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Like everyone else, I woke up this morning to the news that GTA 6 will be $80, and Rockstar is pushing the $100 barrier with a big ol' Ultimate Edition. Through bleary eyes, I was almost grateful to see that the Ultimate Edition was so expensive, since there'd be no chance I wanted it anyway – in most cases, I'd be willing to pay extra not to get all the game-breaking nonsense included with a typical deluxe edition or pre-order bonus, since it almost always ruins the experience of a first playthrough.
But then, buried deep within Rockstar's promotional materials, I saw this line: "Ultimate Edition bonuses become available to Jason and Lucia across their story, with new items uncovered behind each chapter." Could it be? Has Rockstar really broken the curse of the ill-considered deluxe edition bonus? Maybe those bonus outfits really are $100 worth of cool after all…
A not-so-deluxe experience
While the threat of $100 games hasn't truly come to fruition, analysts have noted that the average price that people are paying at launch is creeping ever higher thanks to pricey deluxe and collector's editions. Sometimes, those deluxe editions contain something genuinely meaningful, like a season pass filled with post-launch DLC or some genuinely fun cosmetics.
Far more often, though, deluxe editions are sold with the promise of overpowered weapons that'll give you some kind of major advantage in the game, and early unlocks for skill points and items that you'd otherwise get access to naturally. Maybe I'm just not enough of a capital-G Gamer to get it, but I generally like playing a game in order to, you know, play the game – not to have a bunch of powerful items dropped on me from minute one that completely wreck the progression curve.
One of the most egregious examples of a wildly unnecessary deluxe edition comes from The Last of Us Part 1, where you can pay $10 extra to increase your crafting, healing, and reload speed and make your rifle clips bigger. In other words, you "get" the privilege of ignoring the game's natural progression curve, killing the tension of the early survival elements because you got suckered into paying extra for the "best" experience.
I'm not even typing in the bonus item codes that often come with my physical PS5 games – not that I'll be getting a physical copy of GTA 6 – until I've gotten the platinum trophy these days. Does that put me at risk of forgetting these codes exist altogether? Absolutely. Am I going to miss the items I'm not getting? Extremely doubtful.
Ultimate questions
For GTA 6, Rockstar seems to have actually considered the balance issues. The items in the Ultimate Edition and pre-order pack seem to be mostly cosmetic, but there are hints of more meaningful gameplay bonuses: a handgun with an enhanced scope, vehicle shops with exclusive mods, and a gang shop with "some special items and distinct contraband," for example. (Thankfully, the pre-order bonuses do seem to be largely cosmetic.)
But rather than lavishing you with all these extra items the second you boot up the game, the Ultimate Edition apparently gives us access to them as GTA 6 progresses – just like how additional content should unlock over the course of a game, whether or not you've spent extra real money to get access to it. Most GTA games have featured some variation on the rags-to-riches storyline, and I'd definitely prefer for Jason and Lucia to spend a little more time in their rags era before all this extra content comes through.
But while this all addresses one big problem with deluxe editions, I have one other notable concern: why is any of this locked behind a $20 paywall in the first place? Certainly, that seems to be the community's bigger concern with the Ultimate Edition. A pair of vehicle mod shops, a clothing store, a tattoo shop, and a salon are all exclusive to this version.
Rockstar's press material doesn't make clear whether features like vehicle customization or, uh, facial hair are exclusive to these Ultimate Edition shops, or if these locations simply offer some unique items for personalization. The answer to that question will likely affect how much goodwill there is toward the upgrade, but let's be real: after a 13-year wait, plenty of fans will be willing to pay any price to get as much GTA 6 as they can.
I haven't yet decided whether I'm opting for the $100 version – in part because of just how much I question the value of slicing off content like this – but the news that everything it contains is actually gated over the course of the game has taken the wind out of my initial "absolutely not" reaction. And I don't know, isn't there something charming about Jason in that dirtbag mullet?
After all this waiting, here's hoping GTA 6 stands among the best GTA games of all time.
