Rockstar has insisted GTA 6 didn’t value greater than $1.5 billion to make, countering a web-based rumor, nevertheless it’s nonetheless in all probability the most costly online game of all time.
In a sweeping report by Bloomberg into the making of GTA 6, Rockstar head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe insisted a rumor that GTA 6’s finances was greater than the $1.5 billion spent on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was improper, though she failed to verify the sport’s precise finances. This rumor seems to have emerged from a July 2025 article by Gulf Information, which claimed “Dubai’s landmark is claimed to have value $1.5 billion however the sport is assumed to have a $2 billion finances.”
Earlier this 12 months, Enterprise Insider recommended a $1-1.5 billion finances based mostly on business analyst estimations as a part of an interview with Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar guardian firm Take-Two. Zelnick wouldn’t say how a lot the corporate had spent on GTA 6 thus far, however did admit “it was costly.”
Whereas GTA 6 didn’t value greater than $1.5 billion to develop, in keeping with Rockstar, it’s thought of the most costly online game of all time. The one online game which may declare to come back near GTA 6’s finances is house sim Star Citizen, though its now over $1 billion finances comes from ongoing gross sales of house ships. Bungie’s not too long ago launched extraction shooter reportedly had a finances of over $250 million, for instance. Harmony’s preliminary improvement deal was round $200 million, in keeping with a report by Kotaku. In 2023, paperwork submitted as a part of the Xbox Federal Commerce Fee case by accident revealed The Final of Us: Half II and Horizon Forbidden West every value greater than $200 million to develop. Final 12 months, the astronomical improvement budgets of the Name of Responsibility video games had been revealed for the primary time after a court docket doc confirmed Activision pumped $700 million into Black Ops Chilly Conflict alone, though that was over the shooter’s life cycle. GTA 6, clearly, surpasses all of them.
As a part of Bloomberg’s report is the affirmation that Rockstar now has 4,711 workers throughout 12 workplaces, up from the two,441 workers it had when Crimson Lifeless Redemption 2 got here out in 2018. The corporate has doubled in measurement over the past eight years, which may have elevated prices considerably.
As Bloomberg factors out, GTA 6’s monumental finances is prone to repay fairly rapidly, with some predicting an eye-watering 40 million gross sales and $3 billion in income within the first 4 months of the sport occurring sale in November. The usual version of GTA 6 prices $80 — a $10 hike on the usual value of a triple-A online game. The Final Version, which some contemplate to be a vital buy, prices $100. Then there’s the anticipated launch of on-line multiplayer subsequent 12 months (possibly tied to the launch of the PC model, which is reportedly due out Q1 2027), which can certainly enhance income even additional. In brief, even when it’s simply shy of $1.5 billion, GTA 6’s finances doesn’t really feel like a lot of a danger.
In July, Newzoo evaluation recommended GTA 6 generated roughly $180 million in digital preorders throughout the U.S. and the 5 largest European markets over the past week of June (GTA 6 preorders went stay at midnight, June 25). The analytics agency used GTA 5’s participant distribution (round 69% of GTA 5’s lifetime console gamers sit inside these six markets) to then estimate world first-week preorder spending for GTA 6 at roughly $260 million. Primarily based on comparable preorder curves, GTA 6 is presently monitoring towards $3.25 billion to $5.2 billion in cumulative gross sales by the top of launch week, it mentioned.
GTA 5 set data for producing $1 billion in three days after occurring sale again in 2013, making it the fastest-selling leisure product in historical past (Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame ran it shut, making $1 billion on the world field workplace in 5 days). GTA 6 appears sure to hit the $1 billion mark sooner than each. GTA 5 went on to turn out to be the second best-selling online game of all time, with practically 230 million items sold-in so far. Solely Minecraft is forward of it. Might GTA 6 finally surpass even Minecraft’s 400 million gross sales?
In different GTA 6 information, Bloomberg reported that Rockstar has promised its subsequent sport gained’t take one other eight years to develop, though we don’t know what it is going to be.