Rockstar Games has announced that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most anticipated video games of the last decade, will open at midnight on June 25.
The company has confirmed that the standard edition of the game will cost $79.99, while the Ultimate edition will be available for $99.99. For now, prices for other regions, including Europe, have not been announced, according to the BBC.
The physical edition will not contain a disc
One of Rockstar’s most talked about decisions concerns the physical version of the game.
The company announced that copies sold in stores will only contain a digital download code inside the box, not an actual disc.
Players who choose the digital version will be able to pre-download the game starting November 12th, so they can start playing right after launch on November 19th. The same will be possible for the physical edition, which will arrive in stores starting November 12 and will include the code necessary to download the game.
The decision sparked a lot of backlash in the gaming community, with some questioning whether it would still be possible to resell the game after the code was activated, the BBC reported.
The price didn’t surprise many fans
Although the $79.99 price tag is $10 more than most AAA games currently charge, fan reaction has been relatively moderate.
When it launched in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V cost $59.99.
Vic Hood, a journalist specializing in the video game industry, told the BBC that the price was “quite reasonable”, but the lack of a disc could upset collectors.
Instead, professor Joost van Dreunen, a specialist in the economics of the game industry at New York University, believes that Rockstar’s strategy is a smart one, because it offers a premium edition for the most dedicated fans, while keeping the price affordable for the general public.
One of the most ambitious games ever made
Grand Theft Auto VI will be released on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
For the first time in the GTA series, one of the main characters will be a woman, Lucia, who will share the main role with Jason, her partner in criminal adventures.
Industry analysts estimate that GTA 6 could become one of the most expensive video games ever made. Its predecessor, GTA V, released in 2013, surpassed 230 million copies sold and generated billions of dollars in revenue for Rockstar Games.
