Grand Theft Auto VI

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is one of the most successful video gaming franchises of all time. It stands alongside only a few other franchises that have achieved such time-tested scale, such as Super Mario, Tetris, Pokémon, and Call of Duty. These iconic games have played a meaningful role in culture over the past decades, and this week we are zooming in on GTA VI, the most anticipated video game release of the past decade.

Today, we will share a brief history of the GTA franchise and look ahead to GTA VI (announced to be coming May 26, 2026), focusing on key observations and predictions on how it will impact the gaming industry.

History of the GTA Franchise

The GTA franchise began in 1997 and was originally released on PC as a top-down, 2D action-adventure experience. The game is created by a studio called Rockstar Games which is owned by Take-Two Interactive (TTWO). From its early beginnings, the franchise has been well known for its violence and mature themes (rated Mature by the ESRB for content generally suitable for ages 17 and up). It has even been banned or censored in various regions and countries over the years (Japan, Germany, Brazil, China, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and more).

In 2001, the launch of GTA III truly catalyzed the franchise to a global phenomenon with the shift from 2D to a fully 3D, third-person perspective in a living, breathing city (“Liberty City”). The first editions of GTA I and GTA II sold ~2-3m copies each, but GTA III sold ~15m copies (Source). In GTA III, players could explore an open-world design with missions and adventures that earned them accolades, virtual cash, and in-game items. In 2001, this was revolutionary, and many other games have iterated on what GTA spearheaded.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released in 2002, building on the success of GTA III. It was known for its vibrant 1980s atmosphere and iconic soundtrack. The game’s story takes place in the GTA timeline two years after Vice City Stories and six years before San Andreas. It sold approximately 17.5 million copies worldwide and generated an estimated $500 million in revenue.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was even more successful, selling over 27.5 million copies and earning around $850 million in revenue. Launching in 2004, the story was set in 1992 across a fictional state modeled after California and Nevada. San Andreas introduced RPG elements, three major cities, and a massive open world, setting new standards for the series.

In 2008, GTA IV was first released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in April and then later released on Windows in December of that same year. This game leveraged their internal Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) and also had a robust online multiplayer mode which allowed the game to become more social, fueling its >25 million copies sold.

In 2013, GTA V was released and over the past 12+ years it has sold >200 million copies. Shortly after its release in 2013, Rockstar Games released GTA Online, which has a subscription for their live service multiplayer game. This game currently has ~20-30 million monthly active players.

Looking Ahead: GTA VI

This is the most anticipated video game in history. The GTA VI Trailer 1 was released last year on YouTube and has 250 million views and over 1 million comments. On May 6, 2025, the second trailer was released and already had 90 million views within the first 48 hours.

Gamers are excited to see this fictional version of Miami (called “Vice City” in the game) and its grandeur with the latest and greatest graphics that gaming technology has to offer. Players are expecting dynamic environments, AI-enabled characters (NPCs), hacking mechanics, drones, and that the game will even pick up on player patterns. A few other areas to watch for innovation on:

Social Media: there is speculation that they will have an internal social media network (think TikTok/Twitter for use just in the GTA universe).

UGC: the rise of user-generated-content (UGC) in the gaming space is surely going to be present, yet likely only for the modding community around GTA. It could include creator payouts (especially for map modding, server hosting, engagement metrics improvements, etc).

Stock Market: today, in GTA V, there is an internal stock market and some of the names/tickers are eCola (ECL), AirEmu (EMU), Ammu-Nation (AMU), MazeBank (MAZ), Merryweather (MER) and a few dozen others. Players can try and influence the performance of these enterprises by completing in-game events, missions, and swaying the buy/sell demand of the player base. Within GTA VI, this aspect of the in-world economy across tens of millions of players worldwide is likely to be highly dynamic and lucrative (for some).

Expansive DLCs: similar to how Fortnite changed the map and in-game elements with each new season, the DLCs in GTA VI are expected to be highly anticipated and incredibly immersive. Entire cities or islands could be easily added, alongside natural occurrences that change the landscape of the map/city over time. Imagine it, and that is what gamers are expecting.

Pricing for GTA VI ($80):

Many are trying to predict the pricing of GTA VI, with other gaming companies hoping it is as high as possible (ideally $100+), creating a new benchmark for AAA video game prices. This would give AA/Indie studios the air cover to lift their prices during a time when extra margins are desperately needed across the non-AAA part of the industry. Below is the inflation-adjusted pricing of each GTA release since 1997:

GTA V sold for $59.99, which, inflation-adjusted to today, is $80.96. Comparing this release to the one in 1997, GTA V was 9.7% cheaper than GTA I.

Since 2015, a lot has changed in the gaming industry, and GTA V has benefited from these trends. Most notably, the rise of the GTA Online subscription and microtransactions:

Below is a breakdown of when GTA started, including their GTA Online subscription and their in-game microtransactions:

Looking ahead to GTA VI, we believe they will use Call of Duty and Fortnite as their north star for how to monetize the incredibly large (and expanding) player base for GTA:

• Call of Duty: $70 for the game, $10 for an 8-week battle pass, and $2 to $100 in-game currency packs to buy skins and other in-game items.
• Fortnite: free to play the game, $9 for a 10-11 week battle pass, a $12/month subscription (includes battle pass and other perks), and $9 to $100 for in-game currency packs to buy skins and other in-game items.
• GTA VI: below are our predictions for how we believe they will charge for this game
  • Price: $80 (they do not need to charge $100+)
  • Seasons / Battle Pass: $10/month or $15/season (if 2-3 months long)
  • In-game currency: $5 to $200 options on a sliding scale

Today, many in the industry are hopeful that Nintendo’s recent move to increase their prices for Mario Kart to $80 (and all upcoming game releases on Switch 2) is going to set the tone for Take-Two to charge $100 (or more) for GTA VI, thereby setting a new price range for what other upcoming game releases can benchmark their pricing to. However, Nintendo relies primarily on hardware and primary game sales and not on microtransaction or game-level battle/season passes.

Therefore, we think Nintendo’s pricing decisions are distinct and not relevant to Take-Two’s decisions around how they will price GTA VI. Additionally, Xbox just announced last week that some of their first-party title game releases will be price-hiked this upcoming holiday season to a minimum of $80, potentially setting a new price floor for GTA VI on the Xbox platform.

Here’s a breakdown of recent announcements which have all come in quick succession the past few weeks:

• April 13, 2025 - PS5 raises price internationally (console only)
• April 18, 2025 - Nintendo raises prices (to $80 for Mario Kart, etc)
• May 1, 2025 - Xbox raises prices (new first-party games will be $80)
• May 2, 2025 - Rockstar announced GTA VI delay to May 26, 2026 (link)
• May 6, 2025 - Rockstar released Trailer 2 (watch here)

Take-Two is likely to make far more from seasonal subscriptions and in-game currency packs over the lifetime of the gamer’s tenure within GTA VI (which could be a decade or more), so they are incentivized to keep the barrier to entry (purchase/download) at a reasonable and affordable price. We believe they will set the base price at $80 across all platforms.

Predictions: Our Expectations of GTA VI

Making predictions on the most anticipated video game in history is simply fun. To that end, we chatted internally as a team at Konvoy and decided to put a few down on “paper” here and send them out to you all. To call them predictions is likely a stretch, these are just bets as video game fans on what might happen in the future.

1. GTA VI is the largest gaming release of all time, shattering records of copies sold and revenue generated within almost every period of time
2. GTA VI will cost $80 (there will be premium versions of course, but the base price is $80)
3. GTA VI is the next UGC platform. It will have a UGC component that includes creator payouts for server hosts, mod creators, and more (mimicking the creator economics of UEFN and Roblox)
4. GTA VI will have 200-person lobbies, and there will be higher risk/reward dynamics where you can raid and steal items from players more easily
5. GTA VI will break even on its $2bn investment <30 days of release
6. GTA VI will hit the following copies sold, revenue, players, and viewership targets:

Takeaway: we believe GTA VI will be the greatest video game release of all time, shattering player, viewership, and revenue records. On May 2, they announced its delay to May 26, 2026. We believe they will charge $80 for the game and monetize users further via in-game purchases and seasonal subscriptions. For Take-Two’s $2 billion investment into this game, we believe they will break even on that within 30 days of release. Looking ahead to GTA VI, there is a lot to be excited about: UGC elements, internal stock market, in-world social media, enhanced graphics, amazing storyline, and likely one of the greatest massively online multiplayer games the world has ever seen.