Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games
Topics: GTA 6, Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar Games, Take-Two
A recent report has stated that Rockstar Games’ next GTA title, Grand Theft Auto VI, could retail at anywhere from 80 to 100 dollars… and that has (understandably) ticked quite a few people off.
Let’s work backwards for a second. Earlier this month, Matthew Ball's annual “State of Video Gaming” report hit the internet.
Summing up Ball’s 219-page report is no simple task, but here are the relevant bits.
"There is hope that Take-Two will price GTA VI at $80 or even $100, thereby breaking a key price barrier and enabling the rest of the market to move up, too,” states Ball.
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"No player hopes for such a hike, but recall that packaged prices have never been lower in real terms than they are today - even though budgets are at all-time highs."
Now, as Ball states, nobody really wants this… but it’s not an entirely unfair development.
A $50 game in the early 2000s would (when compared against inflation) be equivalent to around $80 today, so it could be argued that we’ve been underpaying for our 60-dollar AAA titles these days.
Regardless, gamers' reaction to the news hasn’t exactly been positive.
“If games start to cost $100 each I will simply find other hobbies,” stated user @realteaemoji.
“I already own a bunch of games. I'll just replay those. Also emulators exist. Good luck with that guys lol.”
A lot of folks in the comments have responded negatively to @realteaemoji’s Tweet, but there’s a few issues folks are overlooking here.
Firstly, yes, when compared to early 2000s prices, games are technically cheaper today. However, comparing the minimum wage in the USA against said increases paints a different picture.
The minimum wage in 2005, dependent on the State, was roughly $5.15. Today, it’s $7.25. That might seem better comparatively, but the cost of living has increased two-fold since then.
Plus… DLC is a thing these days. Games had to come complete out of the gate back in 2005. You couldn’t milk extra profits out of a title by throwing a bunch of paid post-release content and season passes at folks 20 years ago.
Personally, I think these big, AAA video game publishers are making enough as it is.
I’m not gonna feel sorry for them if they’re making a little bit less profit than they could - and you shouldn’t either.