$80 Standard, $100 Ultimate Edition

Rockstar Games had previously announced that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI will go live on June 25. Today, the company dropped some more tidbits which included pricing. Speculation for years has been abundant about what this price will be thanks to comments from Take Two personnel in recent years. The idea that this would be a new pricing model for games going forward was realistic, as Nintendo had already started releasing games on the Switch 2 for $80 and Microsoft had previously backed off on it. Grand Theft Auto VI will be $80, but there will be an Ultimate Edition for $100. There’s a bit more caveats to this.

Breaking Down the GTA VI Pricing Models

Grand Theft Auto VI will officially release for $80, which many think will set the precedent for all AAA titles going forward. The Ultimate Edition will be $100, which on surface level seems fine, as one would assume this would offer additional content. It seems that the goal was to reduce the costs by eliminating some content from the standard version or providing an incentive to make up for it. At least the game is not releasing for $100 in standard form.

GTA VI Ultimate Edition Items

’95 Grotti Cheetah
Hawk & Little Morgan Revolvers
Weapon Variants
Exclusive Outfits
Dinka Enduro motorcycle
Crest Kayak
Ganado Retro Build Modkit
Rideout Customs Shop
Sara’s Unisex Salon Shop
Shitzu Squalo boat
Stock 305 Clothing Shop
’67 Vapid Dominator Buggy
Electric Fan Tattoo Shop
One-Eyed Willie’s Mod Shop
PTT Youngin$ Illegal Goods Shop
Special Classic Car Collection Mission

The Ultimate Edition will include an exclusive collectin of premium vehicles, weapons, and apparel. The game will still lack licensed cars. While there are items included with this edition, including the ’95 Grotti Cheetah, Hawk & Little Morgan Revolvers, and personalized variants of weapons, access to shops for car mods, hairstyles and clothing will be locked behind the Ultimate Edition. These are aspects of the game previously included in all iterations of Grand Theft Auto.

If you do pre-order the game, you will gain access to the Vintage Vice City Pack. This includes a ’55 Vapid Stanier sedan and garage alongside Ocean Beach, along with outfits and hairstyles for both Jason and Lucia. The Stanier is basically a late 1950’s American Car. Engraved and additional weapons are available, much like in the Ultimate Edition, but are separate from the Ultimate Edition.

New GTA VI Trailer and Screenshots have Dropped

The second GTA VI Trailer has released along with the updated release date and an overhaul of the official website.

There’s a Physical Edition, But There’s Not

Yes, starting on June 25, you can go into a retailer and pre-order Grand Theft Auto VI for a physical copy. The catch? There’s no disc. Rockstar Games is playing very close to the vest to make sure this game does not break the street date and does not get out early. The only way apparently to do that is to make sure there’s no disc available. Does this mean that down the road when they do a different version or shortly after launch will they put on disc? It is certainly possible.

Yes, starting on June 25, you can go into a retailer and pre-order Grand Theft Auto VI for a physical copy. The catch? There’s no disc.

What this also means is that a lot of people will be downloading this game, and this would also split up those users. If you download digitally, you can pre-load the game prior to launch. Those who wait until launch day to get code in a case will be downloading this after the release. Rockstar Games has not indicated whether Grand Theft Auto VI will require a system to always be online, but things are leaning that way with the all-digital release.

The jest of this release is that entire shops will be locked behind the Ultimate Edition for $100, basically making Grand Theft Auto VI a $100 game. You can argue that other companies do cosmetics as paid DLC, but this is different in design. The game was meant to be $100 and Rockstar Games and Take Two were able to offer something for $80, and this also included removing costs to print discs. The game would have required many. A majority of players still do not have a solid internet connection, and it could take them days to download this game. Grand Theft Auto VI will not have online at launch, and is confirmed PS5 Pro Enhanced.