GTA 6 will finally get an official trailer early next month, potentially the same day as The Game Awards on the 7th of December. Once the trailer lands, it will end a decade-long wait for the new GTA title. Rockstar Games and the parent company, Take-Two Interactive have done a decent job of keeping the details of the upcoming title close to their chest, even if a lot has leaked already.
Of all the leaked content that’s been discussed several times by fans and critics over the past couple of years, one lingering concern for the game has always been about the final price that would be charged. From early rumors stating GTA 6 could well be a worthy $70 game to recent rumors of the base edition costing more than $100, fans have been divided and concerned about the next title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
Take-Two’s CEO Algorithm to Calculate Price for Modern Games
At a recent investors call, Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed the pricing for modern games and gave the example of Netflix’s subscription rates, which have steadily risen in the past couple of years, albeit in a different example of entertainment and value for money.
Zelnick did agree that the two different services (tv streaming and gaming) can’t be directly compared, but did say that currently modern and premium games give a huge return in value for money for the consumer.
Zelnick mentioned the algorithm used to calculate what gamers get out of a video game every hour they play the title, along with the number of hours gamers expect to get out of a title and finally the price that gamers perceive to be the overall value of the title they’re playing:
In terms of pricing for any entertainment property, basically the algorithm is the value of the expected entertainment usage, which is to say that the per-hour value times the number of expected hours, plus the terminal value that’s perceived by the customer in ownership if the title is owned or subscribed to. And, you’ll see that, that bears out in every kind of entertainment vehicle.
Zelnick talks more about the value for money of a game, as well as what other types of entertainment offer in comparison. Is he saying that a game needs to be charged hourly, as many suggest? No. Is he simply saying that the value for money for some games is high? Yes. The time spent playing games like GTA 5, Starfield and Baldur’s Gate 3 is far higher than other linear games on offer, or comparable to other types of media.
The Price has to Match the Content, Something GTA has Never Struggled With
Zelneck went on to mention how the prices for currently offered GTA titles are still very much low, in terms of the number of hours of engagement that players get out of it, which is at an all-time high. He stated that the gaming industry as a whole “offers a terrific price-to-value opportunity for consumers“.
During the recently concluded Tokyo Game Show, Capcom’s President Harushiro Tsujimoto gave a speech where he was also of the opinion that modern video games are priced way too low. Although Tsujimoto mentioned that the development costs now are “100 times” more compared to when the Nintendo Famicom was released, he also chimed in that wages must also see a raise.
The development for GTA 6 is heavily rumored to have cost over $1 billion dollars, which is a far cry from what it took to develop GTA 5/GTA Online, which was said to be around $200 million, albeit it was a decade back. While that could be a major factor in deciding the final price for the next GTA title, it’s still not expected to sway too much away from the standard $70 offering.
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