Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij has weighed in on the ongoing discussion around the price of Grand Theft Auto 6 — and his take should calm some of the louder rumors. Yes, GTA 6 is shaping up to be the most expensive game ever made, but no, Rockstar isn’t planning to slap a $100 price tag on it. In an interview with GamesHub, Vermeij explained that despite skyrocketing AAA budgets and constant speculation from analysts, Rockstar Games has shown no intention of breaking away from standard game pricing. According to him, fans shouldn’t expect anything radically different when it comes to the base cost of GTA 6.
Instead, Rockstar is likely to rely on what already works: long-term monetization after launch. Vermeij pointed to GTA Online as the perfect example — a mode that has generated massive revenue for years without requiring a higher upfront price. This strategy allows Rockstar to reach the widest possible audience while recouping its enormous development costs over time. And those costs are enormous. Vermeij has no doubt that GTA 6 will be the most expensive game ever produced. Industry estimates have previously suggested that the budget could approach $2 billion, especially given the unusually long development cycle and Rockstar’s famously high production standards.
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Interestingly, Vermeij also believes budgets like this may not be the norm forever. As AI-driven tools continue to evolve, he expects development costs — particularly in art and content creation — to drop significantly in the future. That said, GTA 6 is being built using traditional, resource-heavy methods, making it a product of a much more expensive era of game development. Rockstar Games has yet to officially confirm either the game’s final budget or its retail price. Still, Vermeij’s comments suggest one clear takeaway: GTA 6 may break records behind the scenes, but players shouldn’t expect a pricing revolution when it finally launches.
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