The Rockstar Games Workers Union has had its first meeting with Rockstar management after seeking recognition, confirming that "it was a step in the right direction."

Last month, it was revealed that Rockstar developers in the UK were seeking official union recognition – something which would give the union the right to negotiate with employers at GTA 6 developer Rockstar on behalf of its members regarding things like employment conditions. Rockstar agreed to meet with the union reps, and now, the union has shared an update on Twitter.

"We had our first meeting with Rockstar management!" a new post from the Rockstar Games Workers Union states, confirming that, as it stands, Rockstar has requested negotiations before agreeing to the union's voluntary recognition.

As for how things went, the RSGWU says: "It was a step in the right direction. We were able to make the case that workers' voices need to be heard and that we can collaborate to achieve this." Crucially, it adds, "we managed to secure a roadmap for a speedy negotiation process."

Next, the union says, "we will now look to agree on the 'bargaining unit' – the list of workers that the union can represent."

Although the union is seeking voluntary recognition, that isn't its only option. "If negotiations over a voluntary recognition agreement hit a wall, we will pursue statutory recognition, which legally obliges an employer to recognise a union once it represents a significant proportion of the workforce," it explains. And, although it doesn't share numbers, it sounds like the RSGWU is pretty big. In fact, it's "already the biggest game studio union in Europe."

With that said, there are benefits of voluntary recognition – as the RSGWU writes, it'd mean "anything can be written into the agreement document."

In this case, the union wants "no crunch" – ensuring that overtime is "always paid" and aiming for "a stronger process" to avoid crunching in the first place – as well as pay transparency, flexible working options, "a commitment to no layoffs," and to make it so no one's job can be "replaced with AI."

Crunch is a big part of this for the devs. One anonymous dev who recently spoke about the goals of the union alleged that "crunch is prevalent enough that the company built into our contracts, as standard, an opt-out of the Working Time Regulations."

For now, it seems we'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out. Last year, Rockstar Games was accused of union busting after over 30 employees – who were allegedly either current union members or planning to organize one – were fired. Rockstar claimed at the time that "we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies. This was in no way related to people's right to join a union or engage in union activities."

"There is a magic to what Rockstar does," former GTA 5 dev says ahead of GTA 6, "I just wish they could do it at a lower human cost."

Rockstar probably isn't planning to slip any sneaky cut content from its previous games into GTA 6, says GTA 5 producer John Ricchio, though the developer has done it before.

Ricchio tells Kiwi Talkz about Rockstar's approach to cut content in a recent interview, "If the tech is fundamentally the same, or similar enough, you can sometimes plop it in as like, 'Hey, let's just see how this works.'" Ricchio specifically remembers Rockstar adding "some" missions from a cancelled, unannounced game into GTA 4, "which was kind of cool."

"So there's the notion like, 'Hey, this idea is cool. We should keep this idea going.' I think that 100% happens," Ricchio says. But "when it comes to actually, like, lifting scripting or a code into a new game, that depends a lot on how much the tech has changed."

Still, even when Rockstar devs could borrow intriguing concepts from previous games, they might choose not to. Ricchio explains, "In a lot of cases, there's almost never – you're usually not limited by ideas, right? Like there's always tons of ideas. The more creative folks you got, you got tons of ideas."

"I haven't seen a huge need to go back and pull from old stuff unless something was just really cool," Ricchio continues, "and people really want to bring the idea forward."

But what if I want to learn if Bully's cut Tie Headband Punk could turn his life around among GTA 6's Leonida beaches? "It's possible," says Ricchio about Rockstar adopting cut content, but "I don't think it's very common unless you're doing a fast-follow."

GTA 5 had "so much" cut content, including minigames that were almost "completely done," former Rockstar dev says: "They'll throw out entire levels."

Rockstar Games' open worlds are humungous affairs full of things to buy, shoot, collect, rob, and do. Although with games as lush and extravagant as Red Dead Redemption and GTA 5, it might surprise you to learn that Rockstar Games is actually quite restrained, and the developer cuts a lot of content before passing the finish line.

That's according to former GTA 5 producer John Ricchio, who recently told Kiwi Talkz about how the Grand Theft Auto developer trims the fat on its mammoth games. "There was so much stuff in GTA, particularly GTA 5 – oh my god, there was so much stuff that was like done," he says in the interview. "Like, minigames that were completely done and ready to go, except for like animation, right?"

Minigames were allegedly binned because "the animation team were getting destroyed," and there was "so much animation work to do to bring everything to the same level" in a game as large as GTA 5 "that we had to cut stuff that was otherwise completely done." There simply wasn't enough time on the calendar to have everything meet the same level of quality.

Ricchio was often told by fellow developers that sweeping cuts are just "'a thing that happens, you know, because the game is so big – GTAs are always gigantic.'" Rockstar leaders wouldn't hesitate to bin larger parts of the game, either: "They'll throw out entire levels and they'll throw out entire things because they don't have enough resources to get everything to the same level."

Major cuts were sometimes "hard to deal with" for the dedicated developers who had been working on features or levels or minigames for a "really long time," especially when everyone on the team was happy with the cut work. "It wasn't like they went into DLC or anything… They just disappeared," Ricchio adds.

But he also acknowledges that such cuts are part of working under a "large production" like Rockstar Games, and it's sometimes for the best. "Every decision can't be made by everyone," he says, and when a developer's headcount stretches as wide as Rockstar's, there'll inevitably be decisions that not everyone will agree on.

According to another ex-developer, an entire single-player Agent Trevor DLC was abruptly scrapped after the dizzying success of GTA Online. Rockstar Universe also lists all of the games' supposed cut content, mostly based on glimpses of features from old trailers that never made it into the finished product.

GTA 5 is still selling millions a year, letting Rockstar do whatever it wants with GTA 6: analyst estimates 1.8 million just on PS5 in 2026.

GTA 6 is expected to draw the highest pre-order figures in video game history, a new analyst report finds, and could top $5 billion in global sales by the end of launch week.

Newzoo released a dedicated analysis of GTA 6 pre-orders tabulated so far. Estimating around $180 million in combined digital sales across the first week in the US and the top five European markets, the firm concludes that Rockstar's long-awaited open-world epic is on a course for "the strongest pre-order campaign ever recorded." (Reminder: there are no real physical copies of GTA 6.)

These six markets represent roughly 69% of lifetime console players for GTA 5, Newzoo adds. Gaming demographics have shifted a bit since GTA 5 was released approximately 37 years ago, but this is still a solid base for GTA 6 estimates. Estimating uncounted regions, week-one pre-order sales may have been as high as $260 million.

"Placed on the sales curve GTA 6 is likely to follow, that puts it on pace for $3.3 - $5.2 billion in cumulative global sales by the end of launch week," the report reads. This is quite a large range, but even the low end would be monolithic – factors higher than Rockstar's estimated development budget.

This range exists because Newzoo is using this $180 million start as the base for three different models: the "brand-new IP," the "sequel with performance uncertainty," and "the proven sequel - a known quantity." GTA 6, obviously, "will most closely resemble the proven sequel curve," which sees more linear growth and less of a "hockey stick" spike associated with new IP.

"Massively anticipated each release with a tried and tested formula," Newzoo says of such games. "The audience is aggregated, loyal and established. They don’t need to ‘wait and see’, so a higher share of the total revenue is booked early in the pre-order window."

Splitting the difference a bit, "GTA 6 is on pace for $4.5 billion in sales by launch week (roughly 51 million units at an assumed $88 average selling price)."

Newzoo also (correctly) skewers "social media reports" suggesting Rockstar had already raked in billions in revenue through GTA 6 pre-orders. Such figures were bafflingly repeated by a Rockstar union representative, who claimed the company can "easily afford" to meet union demands after "reportedly" earning $3 billion in pre-orders. Rockstar's pot of gold is beyond question, but you've got a better shot at a snowball fight in Hell than any unreleased premium game selling upwards of 30 million copies in a few weeks. Not even GTA 6 can eat the mountains and drink the seas.

Addressing claims GTA has "done a billion dollars in pre-orders," the report adds, "This is absurd. Given how pre-order curves look, nothing ever has and nothing ever will in the near future."

GTA 5 producer John Ricchio reckons GTA 6 is skipping PC at launch, not because Rockstar doesn't care about the platform, but because consoles had to be prioritized.

Hacker behind GTA 6 leak that cost Rockstar $5 million reportedly awaiting retrial after being released from secure hospital.

The hacker charged with breaching Rockstar Games to pull off 2022's infamous GTA 6 leak has reportedly been released from the secure hospital where he was being held as he prepares to face a criminal trial later this year.

Arion Kurtaj – a member of hacking group Lapsus$ who allegedly pulled off the enormous Rockstar Games hack in a hotel room using an Amazon Fire Stick, mobile phone, and hotel TV while on bail for a different hack – was deemed psychologically unfit to stand trial back in July 2023. In December 2023, over a year on from the incident which Rockstar Games stated had cost it $5 million to recover from, it was reported by the BBC that the then-18-year-old would spend life in a secure hospital unless he was deemed to no longer be a danger by doctors.

According to a Bluesky post from BBC News cyber correspondent Joe Tidy, Kurtaj's circumstances have now reportedly changed. Kurtaj is "out of the secure hospital he was sent to and now in a normal prison awaiting retrial," Tidy reports, adding that he "will face a conventional criminal trial in November."

Back in December 2023, a judge reportedly determined that Kurtaj was a risk to the public because of his skill and desire to commit cybercrimes, with a mental health assessment stating that he "continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated."

Shortly after the hack took place, Rockstar said it was "extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way," but said, "we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects."

Even so, as well as apparently costing the company $5 million to deal with, Rockstar later told the court that the incident had taken up thousands of hours of staff members' time.

While you're here, be sure to catch up on everything we know about GTA 6 so far.

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden says that while GTA 6 will be monumentally huge, devs need to do more to appeal to people who don't care about the biggest AAA games.

Speaking to Kotaku, Layden says that for a potential PS6, iterative hardware that promises a bit of a higher framerate or better ray tracing isn't going to cut it, and that console makers need the software to justify spending money on a new console. "I think we’re already kind of limiting our reach just because of the games we’re building now. I mean, variety and range seem to be narrowing," Layden says, singling out popular genres like "a zombie apocalypse game, or it’s a space marine game, or it’s guys with really long swords and not much armor and dragons."

"Of course, Grand Theft Auto is going to be like an asteroid piercing the atmosphere and hitting the gaming universe with great force and power." Layden says, adding, "But there are a lot of people in the world who really don’t care about Grand Theft Auto, the non-gaming community."

He explains, "We talk about how big we are, $220 billion, $250 billion industry, but our social impact is the reverse. Everybody has a favorite song. That’s probably the least revenue-generating entertainment category, music, compared to gaming and film and television. But yet it has the widest impact."

Layden says, "gaming, it’s huge on the revenue side of things, but it’s a very select group that are doing it. We’re getting more money from the same people all the time and not necessarily bringing in new people into the experience."

He adds, "If these people who aren’t in the gaming experience have already said 'we don’t care about Call of Duty, we don’t care about Grand Theft Auto, we don’t care about Gran Turismo,' doing more of those same games is obviously not going to appeal to those people either."

Layden continues, "We need to bring out more games for more people, which means actually you have to have more people making games and in different places and different experiences. I want to find out what games from Uruguay look like and what kind of game designers we have in Bulgaria."

Granted, Layden's tenure as head of PlayStation was when Sony's first-party output began to focus on the cinematic third-person action game style that permeates its output today (or rather, did before Jim Ryan and Herman Hulst's live service pivots). And with the closure of the likes of Japan Studio, I think it's pretty unlikely Sony's output will be much more diverse in the future.

GTA 6 faces potential $35 million fine if Rockstar doesn't comply with online safety laws that mean Australians would need ID to play.

They say crime doesn't pay, and in GTA Online, it's definitely becoming a harder line of work. The latest update for Rockstar's MMO sandbox reduces the reward for almost every available big-time burglary, and the new one that's included won't be making up the difference for your bottom line.

The Kortz Center is the latest heist, where you have to break into an extremely well-to-do venue where the richest of the rich in Los Santos hang out, to access one of the greatest art collections in the world. This involves navigating "state-of-the-art defenses including first-rate security teams, watchful CCTV cameras, and intersecting laser tripwires," according to the official description, and how you manage to do so is up to you.

But whether or not you want to is another story, since the potential payout is $2 million, not a huge amount, and made even more disappointing by the fact many of the other heists have had their rewards reduced. The Diamond Casino's biggest prize is now $2.3 million, instead of $3 million, and the next lowest for that location is now $1.8 million, down from $2.6 million.

The Pink Diamond at Cayo Perico is worth $910,000 instead of $1.3 million, and on and on. Over 20 heists have been modified as such, and players are less than pleased. "Absolutely no one out here is gonna do Doomsday Act 3 for a million dollars," says one frustrated commenter on Reddit.

"Wtf are they doing," says another Redditor. "This will not encourage people to do these heists more. It does the opposite."

You do need to question the logic, since the nerfs are so widespread. Perhaps they're part of preparations for changes coming in November when GTA 6 finally comes out. Or, as one commenter suggests, they're actually satire about living in the current economic climate.

"Prices go up, paychecks go down. I thought a game would let us escape the world a bit," a Reddit user suggests, under a post where someone else says "they nerfed literally everything." This seems like more of an incidental bit of black comedy, if I'm being honest, and the real answer is within the minds of the Rockstar devs in charge of GTA Online.

GTA 6 isn't coming to PC at launch, but not because Rockstar doesn't "care about PC," says GTA 5 producer: "If you're working on that, you're not working on something else"

Rockstar veteran John Ricchio is perfectly content not being part of GTA 6's development team, having previously worked on open world behemoths like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption and experiencing burnout at the studio.

Talking to Reece "Kiwi Talkz" Reilly on YouTube (below), Ricchio – who was with the studio from 2003 and 2014 – speaks at length about crunch culture and related burnout. Although he contends that the level of crunch he experienced at Rockstar never reached a level of, "'I don't care about the people'," he says, "it's just not something that [Rockstar leaders think] about as high a priority as other things."

Ricchio says Rockstar can afford to ask a lot from its developers because there will always be talent ready and willing to work exorbitant hours or, as he puts it, "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and make it happen," even if it's at the cost of their mental and physical wellbeing.

"If you're Rockstar you can always hire more people, if you're Naughty Dog you can always hire more people, Bethesda, you can always hire more people. That's the problem," he says. "And I don't begrudge those people for taking those jobs, but it does make it harder for the business to care because they can always replace people."

When asked point-blank if there's a "bittersweet" feeling to not being with Rockstar during GTA 6's development, Ricchio doesn't hesitate. "I think I'm pretty happy that I'm not on GTA 6, I'll just say that (laughs). Not that it wouldn't be cool to work with those people. It is really difficult and it's a hard period of your career when you're working that hard on something."

Ricchio admits that there's a "magic" to seeing such hard work pay off in glowing reviews and commercial success, and that he "wouldn't hate being part of that," but says he's at a point in his career where he isn't "quite as amenable to some of the ways that things are done, and I think that would probably lead to an exit for me.

"I've learned a lot about different ways that you can do things and different ways to build successful art projects and it doesn't require to do it on the backs of burning people out."

Ricchio adds that if you're a developer who finds professional fulfillment in unprecedented sales and universal acclaim, "you can't do much better" than working at Rockstar. "They always perform well," he says. "As crazy as the leadership is at Rockstar, they know how to make cool stuff. They just do.

"I used to interview people and I would say that, 'This place is run by crazy people, but you get to work on the best games in the world. So make sure you're OK with that, because that's the exchange that you get.'"

Referring to Red Dead Redemption as an example, Ricchio says scores of analysts approached Rockstar to proclaim, "Westerns were dead," and that "this is foolish," "they shouldn't be spending money on it." Of course, Red Dead Redemption is now widely considered one of the best games of its generation. "I think we won like 167 Game of the Year awards," says Ricchio.

"There is a magic to what Rockstar does, I just wish they would do it at a lower human cost."

Ultimately, Ricchio predicts "GTA 6 is gonna be great" and that anyone who even remotely considers themselves a fan of the series shouldn't hesitate to buy it, even at $80. "I think save up your money and play it, you will get way more than that money's worth in value, as far as time, like you will put hours and hours and hours into it."

GTA 6 isn't coming to PC at launch, but not because Rockstar doesn't "care about PC," says GTA 5 producer: "If you're working on that, you're not working on something else."

As we get closer to GTA 6's launch with no PC port in sight, it'd be understandable if you were wondering why Rockstar Games is choosing to ignore such a massive chunk of fans at release, especially when it seems very likely to bring the game to the platform eventually. Well, according to one Rockstar veteran, the studio isn't opposed to releasing games on PC – it just might not be worth the time or effort when it could be focusing on something else first.

Speaking in a new interview with Reece 'Kiwi Talkz' Reilly on YouTube (below), former Rockstar Games producer John Ricchio – who worked at the company between 2003 and 2014, and is credited on GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption, and Max Payne 3 – discusses the GTA developer's approach to PC ports. He notes that, although it's "less fashionable" in the games industry now than it once was, it causes many "problems" to start development on PC and then move to consoles afterward. "You're much better off starting with the constraints," he adds, because "shrinking is a lot harder than extending."

While this certainly influences Rockstar's approach to PC ports, Ricchio explains that it's also often about prioritizing the devs' efforts. When it came to Red Dead Redemption, for example, Ricchio says "we actually got a PC build running very early" to see how long it'd take – something that might come as a surprise given that the game's eventual PC port arrived a whopping 14 years after its initial console release. But, as the ex-production dev says, "It's not even that we don't care about PC. It was just like, is it worth spending time getting a PC port going versus working on GTA 5?"

According to Ricchio, it's "always those conversations" that drive the PC plan at Rockstar – the studio isn't "anti any platform." Regardless of the platform, it's about whether it's "worth spending the time and effort to get something running."

In the past, there have been "a lot of cases" of "legitimate hardware limitations" – something Ricchio admits is less of an issue now that consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X are "definitely closer" in power. But, the point remains – "if you're working on that, you're not working on something else usually. Are you spending money on that? You're not spending money on something else."

Ultimately, then, Ricchio says, there either "has to be enough of a business reason to do some of those ports," or the port has to be "super easy to do," which it "rarely" is because "there's always something that you gotta do."

So, I guess if we're not getting GTA 6 on PC at launch, maybe it's because the devs could be busy working on Red Dead Redemption 3, or – wild as it is to even imagine at this point – GTA 7? Regardless, hopefully PC fans won't have to wait too long for the game to make its way to Steam – it took GTA 5 over a year and a half.

GTA 6 faces potential $35 million fine if Rockstar doesn't comply with online safety laws that mean Australians would need ID to play.

As GTA 6 grows nearer and nearer, eager folks can't help but be excited to dive into Rockstar Games' long-awaited new Grand Theft Auto entry – but some fans may have to face regional restrictions before proceeding through the game's golden gates.

Australian fans, that is, to be more specific – and it's all thanks to the country's online safety laws, which require age verification from people before they can access content rated for adults.

As per News.com.au, much to nobody's surprise here, GTA 6 (and its predecessors, for that matter) will likely launch with a rating of M for Mature (ages 17+) from the ESRB and 18+ from PEGI – and, under Australia's own Classification Board, Restricted (ages 18+ only).

That's the same rating that GTA 5 carries in the country, for reference, and GTA Online is not accessible without ID verification.

Should Rockstar, for whatever reason, not comply if GTA 6 (very likely) releases with an identical age rating, we're talking about a fine that can go upwards of $49.5 million (in USD, that's about $35 million), as per the BBC.

Obviously, though, there's no reason for the developer not to comply with the law.

As I stated earlier, some of Rockstar's other games already require this age verification via ID – so, especially when the online counterpart for GTA 6 lands, it'll probably be the same ol' story with the studio's new game.

This does make me a bit worried that it could happen elsewhere, like the United Kingdom. It's seen similar online safety laws pass in recent years, with the Discord age verification system immediately springing to mind.

There are also the Steam restrictions and the like, so I could see something similar happening with "adult" games like GTA 6 in the future – although I suppose only time will tell… but it's a more pressing matter now than ever, with GTA 6 pre-orders flying left and right.

GTA 6 shipping without discs "feels unfair to studios still backing physical," Lords of the Fallen 2 boss says, and Sony's certainly not helping

It's almost impressive that in 2021, 17 years after Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came out, new remasters of that, GTA 3, and Vice City proved to be perhaps the worst way to enjoy the landmark releases. Seriously, you'd be better off sourcing original hardware than playing Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. Despite the complaints, most people who booted the collection up had a good time, according to one of the lead developers.

The company behind The Definitive Edition was Grove Street Games (though you wouldn't know that now because the company's logo was removed from the menus in 2024), and the studio's CEO, Thomas Williamson agrees with the criticisms, but notes there were plenty of fans nonetheless. "I agreed with most of the people's reactions. But unfortunately, I feel like we did not agree with how the game was released and the response to it from a development side," he tells wccftech. "And I think that would have changed the narrative significantly."

He then says that data on their side suggested fans weren't discouraged from roving around as Tommy Vercetti or CJ. "However, at the end of the day, looking at the behind-the-scenes metrics on those games, there were a lot of people who were playing them and really enjoying them," Williamson adds.

I'm a little cynical here. I can easily believe there were disagreements about releasing the games in such a state. Nobody is more aware of how buggy something is than a developer who's working on it all day, with a launch date looming over them and growing ever closer. Such is the reality for many people in the industry.

Williamson himself has gone on record about contentions with Rockstar over how fixes were handled, and Grove Street being taken off the title screens. "It's a dick move to remove primary developers from credits in an update, especially when an update includes hundreds of fixes that were provided by those developers that stayed out of players' hands for years," he said on Twitter in 2024.

That Grove Street Games was getting feedback that indicated most people simply weren't that pushed is a bit of a stretch. It took years for these releases to become generally playable and more stable, following patch after patch.

I have no doubt that a certain, perhaps more casual audience was just happy with the hit of nostalgia. But "a lot of people"? I'm not convinced.

Whatever the case, Williamson's made his peace with the whole thing, and believes if we want better, it'll need to come from Rockstar. "I don't think there'll ever be a perfect redux of those that's not done by Rockstar proper," he says. "If their Rockstar North team took it on and did some crazy thing, that would be awesome."

Maybe after GTA 6, then. So, in 2030-something. I'll dig out my PS2.

Sony killing physical PlayStation games has folks so angry that its announcement has even more views than Rockstar's GTA 6 trailer posts on Twitter

Sony is taking a metaphorical sledgehammer to physical media in early 2028 when it ends production of discs for all new PlayStation games, in a decision that's gone down just as well as you'd expect. The news has been so unpopular, in fact, that folks have now viewed the announcement tweet more than Rockstar's two Twitter posts sharing GTA 6's mythical trailers.

Yup, things are serious out here. Sony had a double barrel of bad news last week – in the very same tweet sharing the impending doom of PlayStation discs, it announced the planned death of the PlayStation Store on PS3 and Vita, the latter of which was already unpopular enough five years ago that the company walked back on the plan, only to bring it back this month. This doozy of a post has, at the time of writing, racked up 166.6 million views on Twitter, and has been flooded with replies ranging from "final nail in the coffin of the company I once loved" to "genuinely, what the fuck are you doing?"

To put things into perspective, Rockstar's Twitter post sharing GTA 6 Trailer 1 back in 2023 has amassed 125.5 million views on the platform, while the Trailer 2 post in 2025 hit 160.6 million, meaning noticeably more people have now seen PlayStation's post – albeit, likely with a shake of the head rather than the unadulterated excitement that comes with literally any GTA 6 news.

The other engagement metrics can tell you that much. PlayStation has 64,000 likes on its post, which might sound like a lot until you compare it to the million on Rockstar's Trailer 1 tweet and 895,000 on Trailer 2. On the flip side, PlayStation has been inundated with 100,000 strongly worded replies, compared to 33,000 and 36,000 on Rockstar's two posts, respectively. Not even GTA 6 hype can outweigh the barrage of negativity Sony is facing.

There's a level of irony to this given that, only two weeks ago, Rockstar Games confirmed that 'physical' copies of GTA 6 launching this November – both on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S – won't come with an actual disc, but rather a code in a box. Obviously, Rockstar is far from the first company to do this, but the lack of a real, on-disc release always tends to go down poorly, and GTA 6 is no exception. As you'd expect with so many people keen to play the game, the backlash was also extremely loud.

It's a troubling time for gaming, as the move away from physical games is something that affects us all. Even if you're not a collector who feels a sense of satisfaction each time you add a new boxed game to your growing shelves, a digital-only future for gaming – which seems more and more likely with decisions like these – could mean the end of the second-hand market and game-sharing, and it raises concerns about ownership and game preservation, to boot.

As disgruntled cries from disc defenders overwhelm PlayStation's first social media post since that fateful announcement, however, it seems likely that Sony might have underestimated just how passionate folks would be about this.

Hideo Kojima is "really sad" about PlayStation ending physical disc production, warns against "frightening" streaming-only future: "You don't actually possess the data yourself."

Between the controversy that Rockstar Games has sparked with GTA 6 only featuring digital download codes in "physical" copies and Sony's decision to end physical disc production for PlayStation consoles in 2028, both developers and gamers have had… thoughts.

That's putting it lightly. On the one hand, we've got game preservation experts arguing that this will all lead to more piracy. On the other hand, there are countless devs sharing their thoughts on the move away from physical media, like former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra, who says "we can't live in a world of fear if our games will work in the future or not."

It all ties into the Stop Killing Games chatter as well – but there's also a financial aspect to consider.

Marek Tyminski, CEO behind Lords of the Fallen publisher CI Games, explores this thought in a new online thread over on Twitter, explaining why he feels Rockstar's choice to ship GTA 6 without an actual disc (and Sony's decision to axe discs altogether) is "unfair" to other developers.

"GTA 6 shipping with no disc feels unfair to studios still backing physical – and it's accelerating the shift," begins the studio lead.

"Sony ending physical support from 2028 could slash disc releases as early as 2027 or even sooner. Physical delivers far less revenue per unit to developers, longer lead times, and unnecessary costs in a demanding industry where many already lose money. We're still planning to release Lords of the Fallen 2 on disc, but business-wise, it's getting harder to justify when physical is way under 20% of sales, and considering recent events."

Although it's reassuring to hear that the Lords of the Fallen sequel will include a physical release with a disc, it's understandable that this comes at a cost.

Tyminski breaks it down a bit, too, detailing how it cuts into companies' earnings. "At $69.99, retail margin takes 25-35%, distributors another 10-20%, and physical production ~$10," he says. "That leaves studios with just over $26 per unit – compared to ~$49 on digital at highest margin."

He adds: "It only gets worse as prices drop. Large publishers sit on the better side of the equation, but even they make significantly more per digital sale. From a pure ROI standpoint, the choice is obvious."

It's concerning, to say the least, and it'll have an effect on retailers as well, as the CI Games head points out, worrying that "their incentive will be way different when they won't be able to offer software."

It's a difficult future to imagine, but I suppose shops like GameStop have already sort of been moving in that direction, selling tabletop card games, merchandise, etc.

Plus, even though folks in Tyminski's comments argue that opting to release physical discs is good for "PR," it's not that simple. As he states himself, "It looks like it won't be a meaningful option from 2028." Sadly, I'm inclined to agree there.

Between studios like Rockstar already opting to cut discs and bigger companies such as Sony planning to make them entirely obsolete, the future of physical media isn't looking so great. It's not just games, either – Blockbuster's been dead for quite some time now.

Rockstar Games reportedly has no plans to print GTA 6 discs at launch or in the months after

After seeing GTA 6's price, I think it's time for me to break up with AAA gaming. Or, to be more specific, it's time to say goodbye to new games with legacy IP and cliff-face system requirements.

It's a heartbreaking thing to admit, because despite 2026 already being one of the most expensive years for gamers thanks to the likes of RAMageddon, I was ready to upgrade my PC and even considered buying a PS5 Pro just to get in on GTA 6 shenanigans. However, as soon as GTA 6 preorders revealed a $80 price tag for the base game and $100 for the Ultimate Edition, I saw a picture of a pricey future that my pockets and I can't ignore.

It's no secret that gaming is getting more expensive, but it's also filled with so much choice. From classic games that still run just fine on current-gen consoles to indie games that don't set your machine on fire, I always have to really justify the long-term investment when upgrading my systems. And I fear GTA 6 has set a new, unsustainable premium price tag for legacy studios that, at the end of the day, isn't cost-effective enough to make me seal the deal anymore.

Looking ahead

I'm not against GTA 6's price by itself. Considering its market power and the level of global anticipation it's created, $80 is actually pretty reasonable and could have been a lot higher. GTA is also not the first game to hit the $80 price tag, with Nintendo jumping on that train back in 2025 with Mario Kart World. However, unlike Nintendo, which exists in its own premium, platform-exclusive bubble, GTA 6 (a multi-platform AAA game) has a lot more sway over the future of game releases as a whole.

Whether you are a PC player, Xbox Series X, PS5, or Switch 2 owner, AAA game prices affect us all. A luxury tier in gaming has been formally established, and while some prices have been high for a while, only a handful have passed the $70 mark. I fear we will see more titles from the likes of EA or Sony pushing an $80 base price to follow GTA's example. Paired with rising console and subscription costs and potentially new-gen machines releasing in 2028, will undoubtedly price many gamers out of their hobby.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, analyst Neil Barbour points out that "the push to $80 flirts with the same negative feedback loop that engulfed recorded music, cable TV, and film exhibition over the past two decades." He goes on to note that the higher price may result in fewer people buying, which will then "lead to fewer purchases, pushing vendors to offset slower growth with higher prices, which risks further alienating consumers." Higher prices may result in even higher prices. The end result is me looking at my gaming setup, which can run nearly all non-AAA games just fine, and wondering if an upgrade's even worth it?

The golden goose

I hope my bleak vision of the future isn't entirely correct and that other studios recognize that GTA 6 is an outlier that shouldn't be used as a basis for the rest of the industry's costing models. Let's be honest: Call of Duty won't get the same level of pandemonium that GTA 6 has. Rockstar has created a cultural moment in the gaming community, one where the vast majority of us will all be playing the same thing by the end of the year.

People can easily justify the $80 price point for GTA 6. However, asking people to continually justify that price for more and more games is unattainable. I'm very interested to see what 2027 price tags will look like once all the GTA launch buzz dies down and studios can start setting dates on their calendars for their games again. However, right now, my PC and consoles look like they are here to stay, and my bank account is side-eyeing the potential future of the market.

Upgrading my setup will be pricey no matter what if I do, especially if I decide to ignore my gut and do it this year. Of course, I want the best graphics and smoothest gameplay while playing the latest open-world games and best RPGs – who doesn't? But I don't need that if it's going to cost me nearly $100 each time. Especially when there are thousands of games (old and new) that run just fine.

If you want to go back to the classics, check out our list of the best GTA games and the best Rockstar games of all time next.

Rockstar developers seeking union recognition claim the company's crunch problem is so entrenched that it's actually been codified in contracts as a way to skirt labor regulations.

Multiple devs spoke to Game Developer about the goals of the Rockstar Game Workers Union – voluntary recognition chief among them. Fighting crunch is also at the top of the list.

"Crunch is prevalent enough that the company built into our contracts, as standard, an opt out of the Working Time Regulations," one developer says, referring to a UK labor regulation which states, among other things and with some exceptions, that people "cannot work more than 48 hours a week on average" and can opt out of an imposed 48-hour week.

However, this employment right can be waived voluntarily, and Rockstar's been accused of countering it with its own opt-out agreement which paves the way for crunch. By accepting the terms – to, you know, get a job – employees can open themselves up to heavy overtime.

"The union successfully ran a campaign to inform people they could opt back in to the regulations at any time, which resulted in Rockstar management simplifying the process and removing the obligation to meet with HR," this developer adds. "Part of the problem with crunch is that there is not an agreed definition, and now it seems the company thinks that offering specific and limited compensation as an incentive for overtime means it no longer qualifies as crunch."

As GTA 6 approaches its long-delayed launch, crunch at Rockstar is reportedly uneven, with some teams avoiding it while employees in other disciplines "seem to never get out of it."

These developers also allege that Rockstar has enabled and tolerated a culture of unequal pay, with the median gender pay gap reportedly widening at the studio amid canceled pushes to balance it. This pay culture reportedly sees significant portions of employee wages regularly withheld in the form of inconsistent bonuses, with up to 20% of expected pay sometimes vanishing for unclear reasons, including "completely subjective or retroactive criticisms."

This week, Rockstar confirmed it will "arrange to meet" union reps.

Rockstar union rep claims GTA 6 bosses can "easily afford" demands after reportedly generating $3 billion in pre-orders as devs call for "fairer crunch" and "pay transparency."

Between the controversy that Rockstar Games has sparked with its upcoming GTA 6 release (one that sees digital download codes in "physical" copies rather than discs) and Sony ending physical disc production for new PlayStation games in 2028, it's been one heck of a week.

It's not looking good for collectors or general fans of physical media, that's for certain. On the one hand, we've got developers like Rockstar moving away from discs. On the other, there are even bigger companies like Sony announcing that it'll cut the production of new game discs for its consoles altogether in just a couple of years. Then, there's Nintendo with its introduction of game-key cards on the Switch 2 – so, yeah.

This, coupled with all of the Stop Killing Games chatter surrounding the end of live-service titles, has made for much discussion regarding consumer rights – so much so, in fact, that preservation experts like Video Game History Foundation director Frank Cifaldi have chimed in on the matter.

Most recently, he has responded to a person on social media asserting that "piracy is the only extant form of media preservation that exists in games right now."

Cifaldi doesn't exactly disagree there, writing, "As the director of a historical video game preservation institution, and someone who has dedicated his entire adult life to this cause, this is accurate. We have attempted to work with the industry's trade organization to find a legal path forward, but they refuse to offer a meaningful alternative."

As the director of a historical video game preservation institution, and someone who has dedicated his entire adult life to this cause, this is accurate. We have attempted to work with the industry's trade organization to find a legal path forward, but they refuse to offer a meaningful alternative.

— @frankcifaldi.bsky.social (@frankcifaldi.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T15:26:34.299Z

That certainly makes sense – heck, new games like GTA 6 are only the tip of the iceberg of the problem at hand.

This also lines up with what Cifaldi said yesterday, as Sony announced its plan for physical discs on PlayStation consoles – that downloading GTA 6 with the "hope it'll run in 50 years is not a preservation solution."

He dubbed the entire situation "unfortunate news for those who still prefer buying games on physical media," which, you know, isn't exactly a minor portion of video game consumers. There are quite a few collectors out there, too.

Here's hoping the industry itself takes note of people's reactions – although I doubt it'll be enough to convince companies like Sony to back down on their decision to step away from physical media. Times are changing, after all… I suppose.

Nintendo probably won't ditch physical games just because PlayStation is, analyst predicts: "Nintendo is going to be Nintendo, for better and/or worse."

As GTA 6 quickly approaches, it's hard not to see Rockstar Games just about everywhere on the web – but its new Grand Theft Auto game isn't the only reason it's in the limelight.

Rockstar developers in the United Kingdom are seeking official union recognition from the studio's leads currently, hoping to join ZA/UM as part of one of the region's first formally acknowledged unions in the video game industry, and the company has now put out a statement in response.

Admittedly, the entire situation is a lot, coming after Rockstar was accused of union-busting in 2025 when the company fired 31 workers. These devs were all either current union members or folks planning to organize one.

Within the current request to unionize, devs hope for executives to acknowledge "our key objectives of pay transparency, fairer crunch practices, and better flexible working arrangements," dubbing it "a landmark moment for the Rockstar Game Workers Union, and hopefully for the industry as a whole" – and now, the company's heads have responded. As per a statement sent to IGN, they're apparently willing to meet with the union representatives.

"We strive to make the best games possible by giving our talented teams world-class work environments and ongoing career opportunities," Rockstar writes, first seeming to outline its company values.

"We have fostered a culture which is focused on teamwork, excellence, and kindness, and where we support and reward the team across all levels of the business through competitive compensation and benefits policies."

The studio then states, "We are proud that as a result, our employee retention is well above the industry standard" – a notable assertion considering the situation at hand. Rockstar's concluding words here are what really stand out, though: "We have received a request from a union seeking to discuss voluntary recognition. We value an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will arrange to meet."

That's certainly good to hear.

Here's hoping that the outcome is just as good. As it stands now, Rockstar's legal dispute with the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain is also ongoing.

Fired GTA 6 developer accusing Rockstar Games of union busting says playing the blockbuster will "probably just bring back too much."

The internet gets a little funny about highly-anticipated games we know almost nothing about. I once covered an fan modding a made-up "elden ring" into Skyrim before Elden Ring came out, since people were going stir crazy for the next trailer. Fans are having similar reactions to GTA 6, and now they're analyzing protagonist Jason's muscles.

Jason's a pretty fit man, it seems based on Rockstar's two existing GTA 6 trailers. That should be inconsequential, but since it's been months and months of fans waiting for trailer three, minutiae is starting to look more interesting. People started making gameplay presumptions based on how Jason looks in two choice moments.

"Do these two screenshots essentially confirm that fitness/bodybuilding is in the game?" says an account on Twitter sharing a pair of images showing off Jason's back. "Jason looks noticeably more muscular in one image than the other, particularly in his back, shoulders, and arms."

This observation resulted in a windfall of other fans' analysis over what a stronger Jason might mean for the sprawling open-world game. Could there be gyms you need to actively go to? Body modification's been a facet of the series for ages now – but could Grand Theft Auto 6 require you to actually keep a routine and watch your macros? I wouldn't hate that, because I love when games include minor, immersive details that really build the overall atmosphere.

Another user points out in a reply that one of the images of fit Jason could actually be the character after a strenuous mission, thus all tense and rigid, where the other is him much more chilled.

But to me, Occam's razor dictates these screenshots of Jason are probably disparate, unrelated moments that don't mean much of anything. We only have until November to find out for sure, but if Rockstar could drop that next GTA 6 trailer to help confirm sooner, that'd be grand.

It's not just Sony, even Rockstar says GTA 6 "plays best on PS5," with Xbox omitted entirely from one new ad.

Rockstar developers in the UK are seeking official union recognition from the GTA 6 studio's bosses, who were accused of union busting in 2025 after firing 31 workers involved in union activity. If Rockstar devs are successful in their bid, they'll join Zero Parades creator ZA/UM in history as one of the first formally acknowledged games industry unions in the UK.

Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) Union president Alex Marshall is confident Rockstar can afford such a milestone. The organizer says in a June 30 press release, "GTA 6 has reportedly already generated more than $3 billion in preorder sales. Rockstar bosses can easily afford to sit around the table with the people whose hard work created these games, and give them a meaningful voice in their workplace."

Rockstar itself has not revealed GTA 6 pre-order revenue, and that $3 billion estimate seems to stem, at least in part, from University of Virginia assistant professor of business Anthony Palomba saying recently that Rockstar parent company "Take-Two shares rose almost 3% in early trading when preorders opened, and some analysts modeled as much as $1 billion in revenue in the first hour alone." Take-Two hasn't commented on this analysis, though the publisher is clearly expecting GTA 6 to be its golden calf – it predicts, in a recent financial report, that the game will contribute to "$8 to $8.2 billion" in sales for fiscal year 2027.

What Rockstar devs are asking for in return, says Rockstar North production co-ordinator Shanti Easton-Steel, is for executives to acknowledge "our key objectives of pay transparency, fairer crunch practices and better flexible working arrangements."

"This is a landmark moment for the Rockstar Game Workers Union, and hopefully for the industry as a whole," Easton-Steel says. "It's thanks to the hard work of so many of our members – both those currently with us and those who were fired last October – that we are now in a strong enough position to pursue formal recognition."

Rockstar and the IWGB's legal dispute over those 31 fired union members is ongoing, with the final trial set to run from September 10 to October 15, according to the workers' union.

Fired GTA 6 developer accusing Rockstar Games of union busting says playing the blockbuster will "probably just bring back too much."

Rockstar has joined in on saying GTA 6 will be best on PS5, with no mention of Xbox at all in a new ad for the game.

Last week amid all the GTA 6 news coming out from Rockstar Games, Sony announced to the world that "GTA 6 plays best on PS5." And while there was never going to be a world where a console manufacturer says its version isn't the best, PlayStation didn't do an amazing job of backing up the claim. Instead of speaking about GTA 6's performance, it simply detailed that the game will support DualSense features – and no, with no specifics about the game, just the generic DualSense features we've had since 2020.

While it's probably safe to say it will be best on PlayStation in the absence of an Xbox Series X Pro or PC version at launch, it's clearly just another form of marketing to push those who are going to pick up a console when GTA 6 comes out.

Now though, in a Twitter post advertising pre-orders for the upcoming open-world game, Rockstar includes the "plays best on PS5" logo as part of its advertising graphic for the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition, urging players to pre-order the game digitally, since there won't be a proper physical release, as copies will be a code in a box.

Not only does this "plays best on PS5" tagline also now appear on the game's official site if you follow the link in that ad, but many fans have noticed that there was no mention of Xbox anywhere in the ad, either. The tweet ends with "Pre-Order Now on PlayStation 5," and the graphics included don't mention Microsoft's console.

While it's likely part of a marketing deal with Sony, some are shocked that "Rockstar Games didn't even acknowledge the existence of Xbox Series in this ad."

Obviously, the Xbox Series X and PS5 are close enough in specs that you'll likely have a good experience with the game either way. That is, unless you're willing to shell out $900 for the PS5 Pro, in which case, that's probably going to be the best way to play… until GTA 6 on PC comes out.

And ultimately, who cares? A bit of a performance bump probably isn't worth shelling out for an entire new console, especially with the near-constant price increases as of late.

Despite Sony saying GTA 6 "plays best on PS5," Xbox reports "record orders" of Rockstar's new game.

With the GTA 6 price set at an $80 baseline and jumping to $100 for the expanded Ultimate Edition, some especially patient and dedicated Xbox players have resorted to dark arts in order to save money on Rockstar's long-awaited open-world epic: Microsoft Reward points.

As PC Gamer spotted, one GTA 6 hopeful cashed in years of waiting by pre-ordering the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition through the power of Microsoft points, earned through the company's bizarre rewards program.

Reddit user CarolinaKing704 "pre-ordered 5 months early" after stockpiling Microsoft points, saying, "I've been waiting for [this] moment for almost 3 years." Ironically, GTA 6's repeated delays helped fans hoping to pay off the game purely through such points, as it gave them more time to save up. The GTA 6 Ultimate Edition will run you a whopping 100,000 points.

A screenshotted purchase shared by another Reddit user sees Microsoft user HugoWheynow say, "Thank you Rockstar for all the delays, which allowed me to have all these extra months to save my Microsoft Points."

This rewards program has been around for a while, and folks have used it to buy games before. In replies to CarolinaKing704, other users say they've got their own point fortunes to spend, but caution folks to make sure they only use points for payment, rather than splitting costs between payment methods, to avoid a potential repeat charge come launch day. As CarolinaKing704 says in a reply: "They charge you immediately if you use your Microsoft funds to pre-order."

Microsoft Rewards is pretty strange as loyalty programs go. On top of gaining points from purchases, like buying and playing games on Xbox, you can also earn points just by using Bing, Microsoft's widely unloved search engine. There's a whole array of mobile game-like tasks that you can complete for points, many of them imploring users to "search on Bing," "download the Bing app," or get a friend to use Bing because "true friends use Bing together," don't you know.

When you first create your account, you're also prompted to pin the rewards program to your taskbar for a whopping 50 points. Microsoft really wants people to use its in-house tools and programs, and it's willing to invent and dole out an imaginary currency to make it happen. Microsoft also wants you to use that currency quickly, so keep a close watch on expiration dates or inactive periods, especially for gift cards purchased with points.

Various "levels" of Microsoft Rewards feature different caps and payouts, with the max, "Level 2 + Xbox Game Pass Ultimate," granting 20 points per dollar spent on qualifying purchases in the Microsoft Store, and up to 250 points per day just through Bing searches (five points per search, with 150 points coming from PC and 100 from mobile use).

True min-maxers may use discounted or complementary Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions as a means to access the highest tier of reward points, and some people have even set up scripts to run Bing searches for them (which may, some users admit, get you flagged for exploits). Of course, this program does require using Bing if you want to really push it, but just playing games and occasionally keeping tabs on your account can add up in the long run.

Despite Sony saying GTA 6 "plays best on PS5," Xbox says it's "had record orders" of Rockstar's new game: "People should wait for real data".

With GTA 6 pre-orders finally live, folks are securing their copies of Rockstar's long-awaited new Grand Theft Auto entry – on both the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, apparently.

Although there's no PC release in sight just yet, GTA 6 sales have reportedly been flying on the PS5. Heck, as per IGN's own findings, "PlayStation is outperforming Xbox by a rate of 8-to-1" – although it's important to note that there is some nuance to this (it's only taking into account pre-orders secured via its affiliate links)... but it's still impressive to see the PS5 version doing that much better in any context, admittedly.

We are talking about the console whose creator, Sony, feels confident enough to declare that "Grand Theft Auto 6 plays best on PS5," so I suppose it's not all that surprising – but Xbox doesn't want us to count it out so quickly.

In a new statement to Windows Central from an "Xbox spokesperson," Microsoft requests that people remain mindful of the circumstances surrounding stats like IGN's, as, like I said above, there's nuance to them. "This doesn't represent pre-order data," Xbox writes. "We've had record orders. People should wait for real data and not clicks on affiliate links."

Although it comes across as a bit direct – to say the least – it does imply that Microsoft's console isn't exactly struggling in the GTA 6 pre-order department. I honestly don't doubt that it's seen "record orders," either, simply taking into consideration the 13 years of built-up hype Rockstar's game has behind it.

I am interested to see what the actual numbers involved here are, however – but I doubt we'll get to until the game's November 19 release date draws a bit closer… at least.

As hardware like the Steam Machine gets more expensive, GTA 6 will have fans "eagerly" spending, analyst says.

GTA 6 theories are like mice. Each time you discover one, you should remember there are about 800 more living in your walls. And they're persistent, as I'm learning now that new screenshots have brushed off GTA fans' half-buried suspicion that a Red Dead Redemption 2 crossover is waiting for them.

Generally, I don't find this idea impossible. Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption are two of developer Rockstar's favorite children, and despite the fact that the franchises take place about 120 years apart, they're narratively linked: rough guys in a rough open-world make morally grey decisions and are allowed to slap prostitutes. GTA has plenty of Red Dead easter eggs, too, like a red John Marston shirt some NPCs can stroll around with in GTA 5.

But this GTA 6 theory is much more substantial than a cute wink and a boardwalk T-shirt. Fans think GTA 6's criminal protagonist Jason is related to Red Dead 2 antihero Arthur Morgan because they both have freckles and kind of a squash-like nose.

The 63 new screenshots Rockstar revealed this week alongside its GTA 6 Ultimate Edition announcement are currently refueling comparisons between the two world-weary men. Rockstar content creator Synth Potato comments on Twitter about the way Jason and Arthur both frown a lot, "Jason could absolutely pass as a direct descendant of Arthur Morgan, he's the spitting image of him."

Twitter account TheCassiniGames agrees in a post with, as of writing, over 33,000 likes, saying "Jason Duval from GTA 6 looks a lot like Arthur Morgan." The accompanying screenshot comparison shows Jason looking like a pouty Calvin Klein model, with a pair of lucite sunglasses, while Arthur Morgan looks like a guy with sun damage who fell off his horse.

I'm sorry, but I just don't see it. There are some situations that make me think, "these are just two white guys" – I have that thought a lot while watching reality TV like Love Island. And I'm thinking it now, partner.

GTA 6 pre-orders live - stock is flying and bundles are hitting the shelves.

GTA 6 and a string of other high-profile games might be forgoing discs altogether, but US physical game sales actually grew ever so slightly for the first time in 17 years.

Rockstar Games recently caused a big online hullabaloo after announcing that physical copies of GTA 6 won't actually contain a disc come launch, just a code that lets people download a digital version. Multiple retailers began dropping what will eventually become the biggest game of the year over its code-in-a-box plan, although Circana senior director and prominent analyst Mat Piscatella predicted this won't actually have any impact on sales..

Curiously though, Piscatella also shares that physical game sales in the United States actually enjoyed a rare glimpse of hope – for the first time since 2009's feverish peak, dollars spent on physical game releases shot up year-on-year by 3%.

US new physical video game software spending. 12 months ending May 2007-2026:

— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T16:27:48.105Z

Physical game sales have been on a big decline since 2009's $11.5 billion record, but now "spending is up by 3% in the 12-month ending May 2026," according to Piscatella. Don't be too quick to celebrate now, collectors. This uptick is apparently not a sign of things to come, he says.

"The overwhelming majority of volume is done digitally now," Piscatella writes on social media. "The second hand market... doesn't really matter. More than half of all Xbox Series consoles in the US don't have a physical drive, while over a quarter of PS5s are the same. We likely have less than a decade left of physical software." Ominous indeed.

GTA 6 ignoring a real physical release is also worrying since the Rockstar Games behemoth is guaranteed to sell consoles, especially since it's not immediately coming out on PC, but many prospective console buyers might opt for hardware without disc drives thanks to the game's digital-only launch. I can only imagine that'll further snowball the death of boxed games, our ability to share them with people in our real lives, the preservation of art, and, you know, our ownership over the things we've paid for.

Analysts expect GTA 6 could sell up to 30 million copies at launch, but are unsure if it can "surpass the incredible longevity and massive sales of 5" in the long run.

It's going to be a busy holiday season this year, since GTA 6 is actually coming out in November. While people rush to pick up what may very well go down in history as the biggest video game ever, people in the know on the retail side of things warn you might want to get a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S now if you're planning on getting one and haven't already.

This comes from a report in The Game Business, who spoke to a senior games buyer at a retail outlet operating under anonymity. "We’ve been informed that because of the ongoing issues around hardware component availability, we won’t be getting the units we want ahead of GTA," he says. "Demand will likely outstrip supply during the year end period."

As much really reflects the state of the industry. Stock supplies have been difficult for some time now, and it was always unlikely that'd change in time for Rockstar's new crime sim. Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to shift a lot of systems, and it's difficult to anticipate or prepare for the kind of demand the sequel's going to generate.

Microsoft, at least, is aware of the strain that's coming, per comments made to The Game Business by Matthew Ball, Xbox's chief strategy officer. "I can tell you definitively, demand for our console exceeds the supply. We are putting them in as many stores as possible," he explains.

"We are producing them as quickly as possible," Ball says. "There is a severe limitation to how quickly we can do that, but it’s not a question of appetite. We need to do more, but there are constraints here."

The race is already on between Sony and Microsoft right now for who gets people's money. PlayStation is going all in, having changed the PS5 dashboard to advertise the latest GTA, and even going so far as to alter the PS app to match the aesthetic of Rockstar's new game. Whoever wins, it seems the only losers will be those stuck waiting for a system to play-through Lucia and Jason's sordid journey.

Rockstar veteran says there's a good reason why GTA 6 is more expensive than most titles – it's "not an average AAA game"

Now that GTA 6 pre-orders are finally live and folks are spending their hard-earned money on Rockstar Games' next big hit, some of the community is sharing its dismay at the price… which, yeah, isn't exactly cheap.

In case you missed it, GTA 6 costs at least $80 – the Ultimate Edition, which controversially contains a lot of content people thought would be in the base game (you know, like certain customization shops and whatnot), is a whopping $100.

Unsurprisingly, this pricing has caused a bit of a stir within the community… but one Rockstar veteran doesn't think it's unfounded for the new Grand Theft Auto to cost so much.

Former Rockstar technical director Obbe Vermeij, who worked on GTA 3, 4, San Andreas, Vice City, and more, responds to a disappointed fan over on Twitter, who notes that the GTA 6 price is a good $20 more than "the average AAA game" in Canada. Vermeij writes, "GTA 6 is not an average AAA game."

Although he doesn't explicitly say that the game is priced reasonably here, the implication is evident: its cost makes sense.

After all, a solid 13 years have passed since GTA 5 graced us with its ever-chaotic presence on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – it's been cookin' in fans' minds for over a decade, and they're ready for it… even if that means paying a hundred buckaroos or so.

Comments under the ex-developer's reply prove as much, too, with the original poster even saying, "That's true." Another person jokes, "Some might say it's [a] quadruple-A game."

Interestingly, though, Vermeij previously shared that GTA 6 likely won't cost $100 – and while it's admittedly only $80 in the United States ('only'… hahaha), the Ultimate Edition is $100. I personally just can't wait to see what the stats reveal about its sales, honestly.

More GTA 6 features may have been leaked by Amazon: switchable protagonists, in-game social media, and more.

There's a high chance GTA 6 will be the most absurdly detailed and densest among the best open-world games ever made when it releases on November 19. The long-awaited return to Vice City is at the centre of Rockstar Games' blockbuster, but we know we'll be getting more of the state of Leonida in the same way GTA 5 expanded its map beyond a very impressive refresh of Los Santos. Will it be shaped by DNA inherited from Red Dead Redemption 2 though?

As GTA 6 promises "more and better" of everything and to set a new bar for living and breathing sandboxes moving forward, I believe we shouldn't ignore the potential of the fictional American state of Leonida. Vice City may be the main attraction as the capital, but the thin marketing materials haven't shied away from showing us more about the natural environments and animals that inhabit the broader state itself. However, it's not enough to just have them; I hope GTA has learned from Red Dead's penchant for outdoor activities.

Lessons from the Wild West

Back in 2013, the larger San Andreas map wasn't particularly exciting. It wasn't until later updates came that more animal species and activities involving them like the GTA 5 wildlife photography challenge were added. Even then, Red Dead Redemption was where Rockstar paid more attention to nature outside crime-filled missions, and RDR2 took everything related to wildlife and its untamed areas to ridiculous levels – finding all the Red Dead Redemption 2 animal locations and completing that compendium was arguably the hardest thing in the entire game.

One of the funniest (and best if you ask me) things Rockstar did with Red Dead Redemption 2 was tricking everyone into playing what's essentially a "cowboy simulator" more often than not. Your mileage may vary, but I always felt the studio's obsession with details would lead to games with heavy simulation elements. More time and money has only enabled the developers to push things further, and while we might argue about how many details are too many details (more on that when GTA 6 releases), the truth is post-GTA 5 Rockstar has done a fine job of making its massive game worlds (including Los Santos over the years) fun to spend time in.

Not everyone was ready for the slow pace of RDR2's early hours or how meandering it can be at times, but those are signs of developers treating its world with respect and not just like a giant playground to fill with lots of content to grind through, an easy pitfall of many modern sandboxes. Though it might be argued Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert ticks plenty of items off the Ubisoft school of design checklist, it's also managed to enchant millions with a truly dense continent full of surprises and opportunities, giving players more to do more than fighting and looting – and nature is at the centre of much of it.

As memorable as RDR2's tale of criminals in a dying West is, I strongly believe most of it wouldn't have hit as hard without the time Arthur (and John) spend indulging in everyday mundanity. It's during those sections – enforced by the game or sought by the player – that we get a glimpse of normalcy amid all the senseless violence and betrayal. Go fishing, find some wild horses to tame, complete your massive compendium of odd animals for that guy you barely know... Tens of hours can be spent engaging with places that haven't been fully invaded by man, and there's space for that experience in GTA too. Swamps and glades needn't just be different scenarios for drug runners and those the wacky hillbilly encounters no doubt awaiting us.

Finding balance

There's always the danger of Take-Two and Rockstar choosing to overcorrect based on the complaints of a loud minority, but when RDR2's success continues to impress eight years later and vast but forgettable open worlds abound, a GTA 6 that's breezier and too focused on the "criminal life" we already know well would be a mistake.

Yes, the game is about Lucia and Jason's "new life" in Vice City first and foremost, but the sandbox bar has been raised several times since GTA 5 came out, and many other studios have almost caught up.

RDR2 still feels like a unique and special beast though. Having the chance to disconnect from criminal activities and visit confirmed natural locations like the Mount Kalaga National Park is the type of thing that can elevate GTA 6. Leaning on the brand of world-building and secondary content only Rockstar (and a few others) can afford to put out on such a scale, switching to totally different genres with ease, is a rare sight. With the past having told us players appreciate getting to live digital lives at their own pace without an urgent need to clear content, I hope that kayaking and off-road hiking aren't limited to NPCs waiting to be murdered, and that birdwatching is an actual hobby I can partake in and be rewarded for. Seriously.

The older I get and the more selective I have to be with my gaming time, the more I appreciate open worlds that put their size and depth to good use. I'm always down to explore new sandboxes, but I only stick around and revisit the ones that feel truly unpredictable and alive. This means I'd rather feed alligators and go diving with sea turtles in GTA 6 than clear a hundred gang hideouts after its credits have rolled.

In this case, I'm confident in Rockstar's ability to repeat (and improve on) RDR2's balancing act. It's the only way the studio can justify all those years in development and cutting-edge visuals; Grand Theft Auto 6 must be more than just GTA: Vice City in 2026.

Here are all the latest GTA 6 activities, customization, and gameplay details revealed now that pre-orders are live!

If an Amazon Brazil description is to be believed, GTA 6 will have in-game social media and missions that have you switching between its two main characters. Neither is too surprising – GTA 5 had us ping-ponging across three guys and digital feeds absolutely littered GTA 6's first trailer – but the features are still notable since Rockstar Games has yet to say anything about them.

So, take everything from here on out with a grain of salt, but Amazon Brazil's store description for the GTA 6 pre-orders lists a bunch of features – some of which we've known about for a while (Vice City's here, for example), some of which we could've guessed (dynamic weather's also in), and some of which haven't actually been confirmed by Rockstar Games.

GTA 6's main difference from past titles is that this one's the kind-of love story of Jason and Lucia, so, naturally, both are playable, but the sequel's also seemingly borrowing from its older sibling with duo missions. Sounds like we'll be able to swap who we control in the middle of missions, if not the entire open world, similarly to GTA 5.

The other notable feature is the built-in social media. Amazon's listing mentions players can watch videos, follow influencers, and maybe even get clued in on open-world activities via Jason or Lucia's phone.

Grand Theft Auto's no stranger to dabbling in made-up internet spaces. GTA 4 had the very of-its-time internet cafes for browsing websites, and GTA 5 plopped the entire digital space onto our characters' phones, complete with a stock market and websites to purchase all types of goods. As the series often does, it sounds like GTA 6 is once again updating its satire for the modern era, only this time perhaps with interactive doomscrolling and brainrot content in case you need a break from doing that in real-life. The ultimate gaming power fantasy, eh?

Keep in mind Rockstar Games hasn't outright confirmed these features or really delved into the game at all, so don't get too attached to the idea of Grand Theft TikTok.

Analysts expect GTA 6 could sell up to 30 million copies at launch, but are unsure if it can "surpass the incredible longevity and massive sales of 5" in the long run.

Analysts predict GTA 6 will obviously be a massive success at launch, but they don't necessarily see it becoming as much of a long-term juggernaut as GTA 5 has been.

Rockstar Games finally revealed details about the upcoming open-world game yesterday, with the GTA 6 price sitting at $80. Speaking to GamesRadar+ David Cole, founder and CEO of DFC Intelligence, says that despite the fears some had that the game would be $100, this price "was not a surprise." Serkan Toto, founder and CEO of Kantan Games, tells us it was "expected" that the game wouldn't launch at the $70 standard, but thinks "expecting $100 was not crazy in my book. However, that sum would probably be a tad too much even for GTA 6."

As Cole says, "the biggest surprise was that the physical version does not have a disc," and despite some pushback on this, it probably won't end up effecting sales all that much.

We asked Cole how many copies he expects GTA 6 to sell now that it has an official price point. "Our estimate for day one sales, mostly pre-orders, is 25 million," he tells us. GTA 5 previously sold 11 million copies in its first day when it launched back in 2013, so more than double of that would certainly be huge, especially with 13 years of hype behind it. Meanwhile, Toto, reckons it could be even higher: "30 million units should be possible."

However, GTA 5 went on to sell almost 230 million copies during the 13 year wait between it and GTA 6, but this isn't a feat that Cole expects is guaranteed to be surpassed by the latest entry. "It could be hard for GTA 6 to surpass the incredible longevity and massive sales of 5," Cole explains. "We think GTA 6 will be stronger upfront but whether it can have the remarkable lifespan of its predecessor remains an open question."

"The biggest issue GTA 6 has is the limited installed base of the platforms it is launching for," Cole explains, adding: "Obviously, GTA 5 gained the bulk of its sales over time as it launched for new platforms and PC. We expect GTA 6 to follow a similar trajectory."

Analyst Joost van Dreunen,once the CEO of games market research firm SuperData Research who now teaches at the NYU Stern School of Business, also expects "GTA 6's long-term sales to underperform compared to its predecessor." He explains: "When GTA 5 launched in 2013, the industry was about to enter a historic growth spurt, and over the decade that followed, global consumer spending tripled from $76 billion to $236 billion. I don't expect to see that repeat in the years ahead."

Even so, Van Dreunen is also optimistic about GTA 6's sales. "I predict GTA 6 will at least match its predecessor's launch and sell-in to at least 30 percent of the overall console audience, totaling 38 million copies and just over $3 billion in sales within its first 12 months," he tells us. And, while he thinks its overall sales figures might end up lower than GTA 5, "per player spending will be higher" as he expects Rockstar to "cater to a smaller player base that it will nonetheless monetize quite effectively."

GTA 6 could get a physical disc release only a month after its code-in-a-box launch, it's claimed, which could be good news for collectors and bad news for FOMO

Fans are warning that the free month of GTA+ included in your GTA 6 pre-orders will be automatically set to renew, so make sure to turn that off if you don't want to pay for more.

Rockstar Games confirmed the GTA 6 price yesterday ahead of the pre-orders going live today, which also included the biggest info dump we've had about the game probably ever. The GTA 6 Ultimate Edition was confirmed, as was the fact that there's exclusive content locked behind the $100 version, as well as other annoying bits of news like GTA 6 physical copies being a code in a box.

Rockstar also confirmed that anyone who pre-orders GTA 6 will get a cosmetic pack inspired by GTA Vice City, but there's another pre-order bonus in there in the form of a free month of GTA+. Rockstar's own subscription gives you benefits on GTA Online, as well as access to a number of games in the Rockstar back catalogue like Bully, Red Dead Redemption, and GTA 5.

However, fans have noticed that the free month of GTA+ will automatically renew for anyone who activates it. It's worth noting that it's not a case of pre-ordering GTA 6 and you'll automatically be put on the subscription, instead you'll be sent an email with an activation code for GTA+, and once you activate it then it will be put on an auto-renew process.

So, PSA to anyone who pre-orders GTA 6 and activates their free month of GTA+ – go and check your console's subscription tab and turn off auto-renew for GTA+. Unless you fancy keeping it, in which case do nothing, I guess?

Multiple retailers drop GTA 6 after physical version is confirmed to be a code in a box.

As you've no doubt noticed, GTA 6 is on the horizon. Releasing on November 19, GTA 6 pre-orders are now open, letting players prepare for Rockstar's new crime sandbox to engulf their lives. Sony's already rolled out the red carpet, plastering the game across PlayStation 5 landing pages, despite it being a multi-platform release.

If you boot up your PS5 console right now, the first thing you'll be greeted by is an advertisement for the sixth mainline Grand Theft Auto. The neon 'VI' symbol comes up first, before transitioning to a portal to pre-order. "Experience the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet," reads the description, before inviting you to put money for the upcoming blockbuster.

Then, of course, if you move over to the store, you're immediately pointed toward the page for GTA 6. If you thought you could escape by using the PS App, think again. The icon's been altered to have a bright pink and blue aesthetic with palm trees, representing sunny Leonidas, the GTA universe's equivalent of Florida. There's even a bespoke banner on the PlayStation social media accounts.

Typically, this wouldn't be surprising, because developers, publishers and system manufacturers want you to buy their games. What makes this stand out is that Sony has nothing to do with putting out GTA 6. The series hasn't been console exclusive for decades, and while a PC port isn't happening day-and-date, Jason and Lucia's escapades will also be on Xbox Series X/S.

Sony is going hard on just how well the latest Grand Theft Auto will run on its current console, too. Mary Yee, senior vice president of marketing at SIE, published a blog detailing all the reasons why. "Grand Theft Auto 6 will play best on PS5 by taking advantage of PS5's immersive features to deliver a deeply engaging single-player experience," she writes, before going into all the ways the system will heighten the experience.

Many of Sony's own games don't get this treatment. Marathon and Saros definitely weren't pushed this hard, and I don't recall Spider-Man 2 being quite as prominent. Perhaps we'll see Marvel's Wolverine clawing at us from the dash come September, but I'm not so confident we will. Seems like GTA is truly in a league of its own.

Multiple retailers drop GTA 6 after physical version is confirmed to be a code in a box.

GTA 6 will reportedly be getting a physical release after all, with disc editions of the game rumored to release in December 2026.

Rockstar Games finally releasing more details about GTA 6 – such as the GTA 6 price, details about the Ultimate Edition, and other assorted bits of news – is something that you would expect to bring universal happiness given how much people have been dying to hear anything about the game. However, some of Rockstar's decisions have drawn ire, such as exclusive content locked behind the $100 Ultimate Edition and the news that there won't be a proper physical release, as GTA 6 physical copies are a code in a box.

Polish outlet PPE (via machine translation) is reporting that this won't be the case forever though. According to a source who previously kicked off rumors that Rockstar was going to delay physical copies of GTA 6 (which is somehow potentially both true and untrue), Rockstar's open-world title will get a disc release after all. Their source reports that the code-in-box versions of GTA 6 will be the original run, with an option for a disc edition to follow sometime in December 2026.

If this turns out to be true, this somewhat confirms the theory that Rockstar is delaying physical copies of the game to avoid widespread leaks like we witnessed earlier this year with Resident Evil Requiem.

However, there's also a cynical part of me that sees this as an extension of the way Rockstar treats PC releases. Releasing a PC version of Rockstar games a year or so later always results in double dip sales as people buy it on console out of FOMO before buying it on PC to get the best version. Take-Two undoubtedly knows this is a factor, and given that analysts predict GTA 6 not having a physical disc won't have any impact on Rockstar's sales, it's hard not to see this as a way to get FOMO sales from people who want a physical copy, hoping they'll drop another $80 on it weeks later once a real physical version releases.

Multiple retailers drop GTA 6 after physical version is confirmed to be a code in a box.

GTA 6 is, in effect, a digital-only release. You'll be able to buy physical boxes at retail come November, but those will only include a code to be redeemed for a digital copy of the game. For some boutique retailers that specialize in physical games, that doesn't exactly sound like a future worth supporting – which is why they've decided to drop GTA 6 pre-orders altogether.

One of those stores is VGP, a Canadian retailer that's become prominent in the collecting scene for its regular restocks of rare physical titles and its willingness to document such minutiae as, say, specific cart revisions of Nintendo-published Switch games. It's a go-to outlet for people who still care about physical games, and it has a standing policy of not carrying "code in a box" releases. That's not changing even for a juggernaut like GTA 6.

"For nearly 40 years, VGP has been committed to supporting physical media and preserving the value of physical game ownership," the retailer says in a message on Bluesky. "As part of that commitment, our company policy is that we do not carry physical products for video game consoles that contain only a digital download code."

VGP adds that "We want to be clear that this decision is not a reflection of the game itself. We have tremendous respect for Rockstar Games and the incredible achievement that Grand Theft Auto VI represents. Should Rockstar one day release a physical edition containing a disc in the box, we would be pleased to carry and support that version for our customers."

A similar statement came from another retailer I was much less familiar with: the US-based Loot Box Gaming. "We will not be supporting the release of GTA 6," the company says in a tweet. "When we started LBG, it was out of a love for our favorite form of media, gaming, as-well as the preservation of said media. If a product can’t honor the people who pay their hard earned money to purchase it, then we have no business trying to sell it to our customers whom we value above anything else."

Analyst Mat Piscatella suspects that GTA 6 won't see any notable negative sales impact from ditching the physical release, and he's providing some interesting context on similar releases. "30 video games have sold at least 1k units of code-in-box physical copies in the US so far in 2026," Piscatella says on Bluesky, covering everything from the Switch 2 version of Split Fiction to PC editions of 007 First Light. "In total, 146 video games have featured physical code-in-box SKUs to date in the US."

The supposed death of physical media has been greatly exaggerated over the past few years – I say, clutching each new PS5 disc I buy with increasing protectiveness – but it is absolutely disappointing to see what might just be the biggest game launch of all time ditch the disc.

Here are all the new games for 2026 and beyond you need to know about.

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 ahead of the GTA 6 pre-orders, 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.

Games industry analyst Mat Piscatella says that despite the controversy, GTA 6 being a code-in-a-box release will likely not have any impact on its sales.

Rockstar Games finally confirmed the GTA 6 price ahead of pre-orders going live at midnight on June 25 (so if you're in New Zealand, you can already pre-order it), and despite fears it would end up running players $100, it's going to follow Mario Kart World's price, releasing at $80 (although with exclusive content locked behind the Ultimate Edition, it'll likely be $100 for a lot of people).

However, one big source of negativity is the news that GTA 6 will not have a proper physical edition. Yes, the game will appear on store shelves, but it's going to be nothing more than a code in a box – not even a Nintendo-style key on a disc. But despite uproar from fans, Piscatella – senior director and video game industry advisor at Circana – reckons that outrage isn't really going to move the needle.

Anyways, devil's advocate here, but given the % of PS5/XBS consoles out there without a disc drive one could argue code in box may provide a better opportunity for retailers, particularly those that don't sell used.In any case, can't say this changes anything regarding total sales expectations.

— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T13:14:13.486Z

Posting on BlueSky, Piscatella says: "Devil's advocate here, but given the % of PS5/XBS consoles out there without a disc drive one could argue code in box may provide a better opportunity for retailers, particularly those that don't sell used." He adds, "In any case, can't say this changes anything regarding total sales expectations."

He also reacts to a ResetEra post querying if any physical game collectors will boycott GTA 6 due to its lack of physical release, saying, "Any time you hear 'boycott' when it comes to a video game it's time to raise the forecast."

Obviously GTA 6 is going to sell millions regardless, but the digital-only release is a massive disappointment. Not only does it hurt physical game collectors and preservation going forwards, but it's likely going to result in confusion for any unaware parents buying the game for their too-young-to-be-playing-it children for Christmas (who will then be met with an undoubtedly massive download). It also effectively allows Rockstar to control the entire market on GTA 6, as no one will be able to trade in their copy of GTA 6 or sell it second-hand.

GTA 6 isn't $100, but its real price proves games are only going to get more expensive.

GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games has unveiled plans for its $100 Ultimate Edition, but fans are unhappy with some of the features locked behind the more expensive version.

Earlier today we got perhaps our biggest info dump about GTA 6 to date, with Rockstar Games dropping details about the GTA 6 price, finally confirming that yes, it will be more expensive than most games with its $79.99 price, but won't be $100 like some feared. But Rockstar also announced the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition which will run you $99.99, and features a bunch of cosmetics and other stuff you expect to see in these expensive editions.

However, alongside the news that GTA 6 physical copies being a code in a box, Rockstar fans aren't exactly happy with this news, as the details of the Ultimate Edition also revealed that some features will be paywalled behind this more expensive edition. Car mod shops One-Eyed Willie's and Rideout Customs, clothing store Stock 305, hair salon Sara's Unisex Salon, and tattoo shop Electric Fang Tattoo all say they are "only open for business with the Ultimate Edition."

On top of that, there's also going to be some exclusive side missions. One sees you "raid the compound of one of Southside Vice City's loudest and most socially active gangs and escape safely to score some special items and distinct contraband," while another has you "track down a variety of abandoned classic and work-in-progress project cars and revitalize them to their former glory in this special commission from eccentric collector and local fixer, Wyman."

Over on the GTA subreddit, fans aren't happy with the amount of content locked behind the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition. Rather than excitement over the new details, the top post on the subreddit at the time of writing reads, "Rockstar I love you and all but locking content behind editions of the game like this is pretty egregious. This shouldn't be things you hide behind an ultimate edition of the game for players who just want to buy the basic game." Another user adds, "That's a huge red flag for me. Remember it's a SOLO GAME, this is about STORY MODE."

Meanwhile others are comparing it to GTA 4, which had everything included in the base game and then two big expansions. Elsewhere, some are seeing this as a symptom of how successful GTA Online was for GTA 5, with one user saying, "It was a huge mistake to support GTAO. It has spilled out onto single player too now." Others are now worried about what GTA Online is going to look like in GTA 6 when it comes to microtransactions: "Online is gonna be shark card central…"

Elsewhere, people fear what it might mean for the quality of the campaign, with one user saying "I won't be surprised if this game has the shortest and simplest singleplayer campaign of any GTA game and is completely focused on multiplayer and Shark Cards." We'll just have to wait and see, but it's certainly put a damper on today's news for some.

Possible new GTA 6 details continue to come early from European retailers as another says Rockstar's next game has performance and quality modes, but I'm not buying it.

Sony is saying GTA 6 will be best experienced on the PS5, and considering there's no PC version, that's a pretty low bar.

GTA 6 pre-orders are officially set to open at midnight in whatever time zone you're in (players in New Zealand are already able to put money down for the open-world game), and to celebrate we got a massive blowout of info from Rockstar Games. We found out the GTA 6 price, details about the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition, and less exciting news like GTA 6 physical copies being a code in a box, and no GTA Online at launch.

But outside of Rockstar's big blowout, Sony released its own GTA 6 post onto the PlayStation Blog from SIE's senior vice president of marketing, Mary Yee, titled "Grand Theft Auto 6 plays best on PS5 November 19." Which, first off, of course Sony would say. The company isn't exactly going to tell you it's better on Xbox, is it? However, it somewhat backs this up with very vague details about how the game will use the PS5 hardware.

"PS5 puts you in the center of the game world with the DualSense wireless controller reacting to your actions and bringing the sights, sounds, and sensations of Jason and Lucia's story into the palm of your hands," the post explains while explaining the generic details of the DualSense we've had since 2020.

Sony is also hyping up its 3D audio, saying "you can surround yourself in the distinct soundscapes of Leonida. From the streets of Vice City to the moments that unfold all across the state, this highly accurate audio positioning enhances your perception, helping to bring this world to life around you in unmatched ways."

At the same time, it's a pretty open goal right? In the absence of an Xbox Series X Pro, the PS5 Pro is the most powerful console currently available, and given there won't be a PC version of the game for another year from its launch at least, obviously PS5 is going to be the best place for it. But I suppose being able to advertise "GTA 6 is best on PS5" is going to be a solid marketing move for anyone looking to pick up a console for Rockstar's latest.

Possible new GTA 6 details continue to come early from European retailers as another says Rockstar's next game has performance and quality modes, but I'm not buying it

Rockstar has just confirmed that GTA 6 pre-orders are going live very soon, midnight local on July 25. What are we supposed to do while we wait, aside from marvel at the fact that the GTA 6 price is a shockingly reasonable $80? Why don't we dig into some of the first GTA 6 gameplay features!

While there's no sign of the third Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer, Rockstar has been kind enough to drop more than 60 new GTA 6 screenshots and new gameplay details. I'm going to break those down into categories for you all below, so all you need to do is slide through the galleries to see them all.

Rockstar may have shown a little of Leonida's scale, we haven't actually had that much info on what we'll be able to do within it. Well now we have a better sense of what vehicles we'll be able to drive beyond the confirmed GTA 6 cars, what activities we'll be able to do across the GTA 6 map, and first details on the depth of the character, weapon, and car customization. There's a lot to dive into, so let's get to it!

Jason has a beachfront Safehouse

We've long suspected that the beachfront property seen in the GTA 6 trailer would be a primary location for Jason, but it's now confirmed that this is officially referred to in-game as 'Jason's Safehouse'. This will be a location for you to hold multiple vehicles, such as the Dinka Enduro motorcycle, Crest Kayak, and Vapid Ganado pickup – all of which are bonuses included in the Ultimate Edition of the game. It's likely that you'll also be able to fix Jason's fashion here too, given mention elsewhere of extensive character customization options. Whether Jason will have other safehouses across Leonida remains to be seen.

Vehicle Customization and Mods confirmed

The Ultimate Edition will unlock two exclusive vehicle customization destinations, but it's likely that there will be far more across Vice City and beyond. We now know that a "wide selection of artistic and performance-based vehicle mods" are supported, with mention of being able to alter "detailed interiors, exquisite rims, and donk stylings." There's also mention in the pre-order info drop of certain cars having unique cab spoiler, rear aerials, and special liveries. What this points to is GTA 6 having extensive car customization features, giving you the freedom to tailor motorcycles, muscle cars, off-road riders, and more to your heart's content – so long as you've got the cash to burn.

Classic Car Collection Activities confirmed

The first in-game GTA 6 activity has been confirmed! We now know that you'll be able to complete a 'Classic Car Collection' by tracking down a variety of "abandoned classic and work-in-progress project cars" across the open world. Once located, you'll be able to revitalize them to their former glory and make them your own as part of a special commission project from a character named Wyman – who Rockstar describes as being an "eccentric collector and local fixer." There's four vehicles exclusive to the Ultimate Edition, but there's clearly far more out there to be found.

Weapon Customization confirmed

GTA 5 introduced pretty solid weapon customization features, so it's no surprise that Rockstar is pushing the feature for the sequel. As part of various Ultimate Edition bonuses, it's confirmed that some of the exclusive weapons will feature customized grips, various engravings, and different scopes. This is almost certainly just scratching the surface, but we'll have to wait to learn more. Another little detail here, it does seem that Jason and Lucia's weapons-of-choice are pistols and revolvers, and that Ammu-Nation stores will once again be a hub of sorts for weapon changes.

Personal Garages and weapons lockers

We now know that there will be Personal Garages spread all over Leonida. Each Personal Garage comes equipped with a weapons locker that can be used to "customize your loadout for any occasion", as well as a secure place to deposit stolen goods. It's currently unclear how you'll be able to access (or whether you'll need to purchase) Personal Garages, but it's good to know that we'll be able to tweak Jason/Lucia without needing to drive all the way back to a safehouse.

You'll be able to fence stolen items in GTA 6

Another activity that's confirmed for GTA 6: You can fence stolen items. We know that this game will be a more traditional crime story, with Jason and Lucia dragged into a conspiracy after a heist gone wrong. There will be at least one "local Fence" who will "accept most stolen goods at a reasonably discounted rate." You'll naturally attract a lot of attention (and police presence) while holding hot items, so these can also be stored securely in a Stash Box at any of your Personal Garages or Safehouses.

Extensive character customization

A big part of the Ultimate Edition is the arrival of exclusive clothing stores and capsule collections. What this tells us is that GTA 6 will have big character customization features. Outfits, apparel, accessories, and tattoos – we'll be able to bring our own style to Jason and Lucia. In addition, it's also confirmed that you'll be able to style each character's hairstyle, and alter Jason's facial hair and Lucia's makeup and nails. You'll also be able to change up ink for each character, with tattoos for your arms, legs, and back.

You'll interact with local gangs

If you pick up the Ultimate Edition of GTA 6, you'll be able to secure some "special items and distinct contraband" by raiding the PTT Youngin$ Illegal Goods Store in Southside Vice City. The PTT Youngin$ are a prominent gang across Leonida, weed farmers and dealers. The fact that GTA 6 has a gang that can be specifically targeted and raided, speaks to the game supporting a feature to attack other criminal elements. Given that we also now know that GTA 6 has stash boxes for stolen items and local fences to offload items too, it seems likely that 'special contraband' from gangs will be a lucrative form of money making – Ultimate Edition or not!

Will Tommy Vercetti's legacy loom large?

While there's a chance that this is just a nice easter egg for fans of GTA 3: Vice City, the Ultimate Edition does make mention of a 'Vercetti Estate'. Now, the The Vintage Vice City Pack (which is included with all digital purchases of GTA 6 made prior to November 20) does give you an exclusive weapon pattern that'll let you more overtly channel the original Vice City kingpin, but it's confirmation that the Vercetti Estate being an accessible location which makes me wonder whether we'll learn what Tommy Vercetti has been up to in the 40 in-game years between GTA 3 and GTA 6.

Will we be able to go fishing?

I'm not super convinced on this one, but I'll mention it here for the sake of being thorough. One of the exclusive Ultimate Edition items is the Shitzu Squalo – a rather large and lovely boat. The details for this vehicle mention the special Squalo can be docked, and that it can be made "ocean-ready" thanks to an on-board weapons crate. The thing that caught my eye though? This line: "Perfect for casting in Gambit Bay and reeling in catches of all sorts." Does this mean that we'll be able to go fishing, or is it simply teasing that the criminal underground of Leonida likes to use murky waters as a dumping ground?

GTA 6 lands on PS5 and Xbox Series X on November 19. It's a key new game of 2026, although it sounds as if it'll be launching as single-player only experience.

Rockstar Games has confirmed that GTA 6 will be following in the footsteps of Red Dead Redemption 2 with a chapter-based story.

Ahead of GTA 6 pre-orders officially opening at midnight local time, a bunch of info was released about the upcoming open-world game on the Rockstar Games website. This included the GTA 6 price which is following in the footsteps of Mario Kart World at $80 – although considering many were worried it'd be $100, some see it as a bit of a relief. However, if you want to spend $100 on GTA 6, Rockstar also detailed the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition, which also revealed another detail about the game's story.

The open-world Rockstar games have typically been a stream of consciousness style of giving you content, feeding you one mission after another for a straight ride through the game. But with Rockstar's last game, Red Dead Redemption 2, the game was more deliberate by being split up into distinct chapters, typically focusing on one area of the map. And it looks like GTA 6 is taking that approach forward.

In the section about the Ultimate Edition, Rockstar notes that you won't get everything at once, saying "Ultimate Edition bonuses are threaded across all aspects of Jason and Lucia's story, with new items uncovered behind each chapter," confirming the chapter-based approach is returning.

Given that Red Dead Redemption 2 is undoubtedly the best story Rockstar has ever made, I'm glad to see it try this format with GTA. Although let's hope there aren't any chapters that are as much of a drag as Guarma was in Red Dead 2.

GTA 6 Online looks unlikely for launch as Rockstar refers to the game as a "single-player experience."

A European retailer has included a blurb about performance and quality modes on its GTA 6 store page, suggesting Rockstar Games' open-world title may feature the modes.

As spotted by a ResetEra user, Media Markt Poland included a now-deleted Q&A on its GTA 6 store page, which included the following: "By purchasing the console version, you can be sure that you are getting a product polished down to the smallest detail. GTA VI on next-generation consoles offers two graphics modes to choose from (Performance and Quality), support for DualSense controller features on PS5, providing realistic haptic feedback vibrations, and extremely fast loading screens thanks to the power of SSD storage."

Obviously, differing graphical modes have been a thing on consoles for about a decade now, since the advent of the PS4 Pro, so it's not a huge stretch to imagine any upcoming game would have it. However, it's mainly interesting since Rockstar's previous game, Red Dead Redemption 2, never featured these modes on the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, or when played in backwards compatibility mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X. And given Rockstar is one of the more particular developers out there, it wouldn't be entirely shocking if the developer had balanced the game around a singular performance mode it deems the best way to play.

However, I don't really buy it. The store page Q&A sounds a bit generic, not to mention the opening line "By purchasing the console version," which would be a bit unnecessary since, as of right now, GTA 6 isn't coming to PC (obviously it will, but later for those sweet double dips). This could easily be a generic blurb for any current game as a placeholder, especially when there's no mention of the PS5 Pro.

That isn't to say the game won't have performance and quality modes, but I wouldn't take this retailer listing as gospel just yet.

The UK government has reportedly been paying employees to play GTA Online with random people to understand their "lived experience".

Rockstar Games is still keeping details about GTA 6's online mode under wraps, with the latest news seemingly confirming it will arrive after launch.

Ahead of GTA 6 pre-orders going live tomorrow, Rockstar has released a blowout of info about the upcoming open-world game. Most notably, the GTA 6 price, which has finally been confirmed to be in line with the Nintendo-led $80, with an Ultimate Edition arriving alongside it for $100, with pre-loads starting a week early. On top of that, Rockstar confirmed the rough news that GTA 6 physical copies are a code in a box, but very quietly hidden away in a press release is an unfortunate clue about GTA Online's next iteration.

In a Take-Two press release where the price was confirmed, it reads, "Grand Theft Auto 6 features a single-player experience set in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the series yet." The keywords there are "single-player," effectively confirming that when GTA 6 launches on November 19, 2026, a new version of GTA Online will not be coming alongside it.

We know a new GTA Online is on the way, thanks to court proceedings earlier this year, and given how much money GTA Online makes, and how much GTA 6 is going to make, it was pretty inevitable that it would be a thing in the upcoming game.

However, this isn't out of the ordinary for Rockstar anymore. It may be hard to remember now that it was 13 years ago, but GTA 5's iteration of GTA Online launched two weeks after the game's release. Whereas Red Dead Redemption 2's online component launched in beta around a month later, then fully launched around a year and a half later.

The UK government has reportedly been paying employees to play GTA Online with random people to understand their "lived experience".

Rockstar has finally revealed the GTA 6 price, ending plenty of chatter and speculation. While the cost does mean $80 at least, at the very least, you'll now be able to put the money you need aside for when the next Grand Theft Auto game releases this November.

As expected, Rockstar revealed the long-awaited GTA 6 news in a press release, detailing that the standard edition of GTA 6 will cost you $80 while the Ultimate Edition will cost $99.99. Interested? GTA pre-orders kick off at midnight local time today.

While we've had to wait until today to get the official word from Rockstar, there was some chatter over an early leak just recently. As we previously reported, a European retailer suggested a price range of €90 to €200, though a reliable dataminer quickly noted it was likely a placeholder. Now, though, we know it's not quite that bad, which is something.

So, why has the cost of GTA 6 been causing such a stir over the past few years? Some topics of conversation are evergreen – games are getting more expensive to make, so will those costs be passed down? If we're moving towards a new console genre, does that mean more expensive games? And so on.

What was particularly impactful, however, was Nintendo's pricing of Mario Kart World for the Nintendo Switch 2. To this day, picking up the racer will set you back $80. At the time, Nintendo ripping the band-aid off led plenty of gaming fans to wonder who would follow suit. Team Xbox flirted with the idea with The Outer Worlds 2 before running that decision back, and they aren't the only ones.

Regardless, a common thought that entered the brain of many was, 'if Nintendo can charge $80 for Mario Kart, then how much could Rockstar charge for one of the most-anticipated games of all time?' Not a thought many of us enjoy, for sure.

While plenty of analysts have been happy to float the possibility that GTA 6 could have hit the heights of a $100 price tag, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick had offered some assurance with several remarks, saying "our job is to charge way way way less of the value" of a game, and that the company typically aims to "deliver way more value than what we charge."

Of course, now that the GTA 6 price is set, fans will be able to decide for themselves if Rockstar is providing more value than what is being charged this November.

GTA 6 Online looks unlikely for launch as Rockstar refers to the game as a "single-player experience."

GTA 6 physical copies will be a code-in-a-box, Rockstar Games has confirmed, with them arriving on shelves a week early to allow for pre-loading.

Over on the Rockstar Games website, the studio shares a bunch of pre-order info for the open-world title, including the news that pre-orders will go live at midnight on June 25 and the GTA 6 price, which will cost $79.99, details about the Ultimate Edition (which will run you $99.99), and news of the pre-load. Alongside the pre-loading info, Rockstar revealed that physical copies of the game will be available in stores a week early, on November 12, 2026, to allow users to pre-load the game. Unfortunately, this comes with a major catch, as the description adds, "Physical copies of GTA 6 will contain a code that can be redeemed for the digital download of the game. A disk will not be included in the box."

Earlier this year, rumors emerged that Rockstar was going to delay physical copies of GTA 6, in order to avoid leaks in the same way some of its previous titles, and other high-profile releases like Resident Evil Requiem, have faced. However, Strauss Zelnick – CEO of Take-Two – denied this at the time, and I guess he was technically right.

It's clear now that Rockstar's plan to avoid leaks is to not even bother with physical copies of the game. Yes, you can buy the game in stores, but it's not a real physical edition. So if you were looking for a version of the game that will exist for years to come, or hoping to resell it after you finished the campaign, unfortunately, you're out of luck.

Hopefully, this is just a measure to avoid pre-launch leaks from Rockstar, and eventually, real physical copies make their way out there. It's a bit of a disappointing move for one of the biggest game releases of all time.

The UK government has reportedly been paying employees to play GTA Online with random people to understand their "lived experience".

GTA 6 pre-orders begin this week, which means we're mere hours away from confirmation on one of the biggest questions looming over Rockstar's open-world behemoth: how much is this thing gonna cost? Nintendo set a new precedent for $80 AAA games with Mario Kart World, and with GTA likely being the most expensive game ever made, fans are bracing for what could be the most expensive retail price tag for a video game ever.

A recent leak from a European retailer suggested the base version of GTA 6 could arrive at €89.99 (roughly $100), with the priciest SKU landing at €199.99 ($227), but a reliable insider has debunked those numbers as "random" placeholders not indicative of official Take-Two pricing. Still, analysts say they wouldn't be surprised to see those kinds of prices on GTA 6. It is GTA 6, after all.

Talking to Eurogamer, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella says the rumored leaked prices are both "possible and plausible", adding that Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive is in the advantageous position of being able to do "just about anything in regard to pricing" when it comes to GTA 6.

In any other situation, particularly in the economically turbulent world in which we live, most would be unwilling to accept such exorbitant prices for games, says The Game Business's Chris Dring, but "GTA 6 is not most games." He adds: "Fans know the value offered by a GTA. This is a game that will last a long time and will justify that level of cost for a lot of people."

Rockstar itself has dubbed GTA 6 "the largest game launch in history," and you could reasonably broaden that statement to include the entertainment industry more broadly, but that unprecedented anticipation and production budget needn't be proportionate to the game's price tag.

Certainly, if there's a game out there with enough momentum to ask people for $100 to play the most affordable version, it's GTA 6, but Take-Two could just as easily play the long game and lower that barrier of entry, potentially welcoming a whole new category of gamers who have yet to migrate over from last-gen consoles. GTA 6 will be exclusive to current-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles at launch, with a PC date yet to be confirmed, so pricing the game closer to the current retail standard of $70 could make the cost of transitioning to PS5/Xbox Series X "more palatable," argues Dring, especially with recent price increases on gaming hardware across the board.

Another big strategic reason to keep GTA 6's price tag relatively low is GTA Online, what Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott says is "the real cash cow" in Take-Two's pocket. "Capping GTA 6's addressable audience at launch to squeeze the base price would be penny-wise and pound-foolish," he says. "They'd needlessly be limiting the top of the funnel that feeds the thing that actually prints money for a decade. And let's not forget there's a cost-of-living crisis. A higher floor hits exactly the players already feeling the squeeze."

With GTA 6 pre-orders starting on June 25, we only have a couple of days until we know for sure how much the game will cost, but it's interesting that there's no clear consensus from analysts at this juncture. I suppose with no other game launch to compare, it's uniquely difficult to predict Take-Two's strategy when it comes to pricing, but from the humble perspective of a player and critic, I'm holding out hope for a $70 base version so that as many people as possible can witness what will be, in Dring's words, "the entertainment event of the century."

GTA 6 trailer 3 hopes soar as YouTube jumps back into Rockstar's last trailer to tease it's going to be "busy" on pre-order day, but I think we already have our explanation

Thatgamecompany, the studio behind gems like Journey and Sky: Children of the Light, has always expressed itself through more zen video game experiences, it seems – or, at least, co-founder Jenova Chen certainly has.

Chen recalls when his game-making journey began back in 2005 in a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, explaining that he needed money for his tuition… and the University of Southern California was offering a gaming innovation grant for a pitch "that was the opposite of what the mainstream media was condemning after the Columbine shooting."

In other words, the polar opposite of Rockstar Games' beloved Grand Theft Auto series.

The Thatgamecompany lead says as much. "I was like, 'What is the opposite of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas?'" The opposite was Cloud – a wholesome game revolving around a boy dreaming of flying while stuck in a hospital bed.

Chen (and fellow students) hoped to create a peaceful experience out of Cloud… which wasn't exactly common in the era of Assassin's Creed, Half-Life, Halo, Resident Evil, and, of course, GTA.

Nor was it popular – at least not with Valve, the mastermind company behind the likes of Half-Life 2 and the Portal games. Not according to Chen, anyway, who actually tried to pitch Cloud to the house of Steam himself.

"We pitched to pretty much every publisher you can imagine, including Valve," he admits. "Back in 2005, Valve was like, 'We only publish games with guns, our players like to shoot.'" Sounds about right for the time, honestly.

It's important to note that Cloud did end up finding its way to the public, and you can still download it for free online. As for Valve… well, it's still known best for shooters like the Counter-Strike and Half-Life series, but I'd say there's nothing quite as out there as GTA under its belt.

And, as it stands, games with a violent edge continue to prove popular – heck, just take a look at all of the hype surrounding GTA 6 and its upcoming launch.

That's not to say that cozy games – like Thatgamecompany's own lineup – haven't found a home in today's world. They're bigger than ever before, with roughly 80% of my own Steam library being some shape or form of relaxing experience.

GTA 6 trailer 3 hopes soar as YouTube jumps back into Rockstar's last trailer to tease it's going to be "busy" on pre-order day, but I think we already have our explanation.

GTA 6 pre-orders are going live this week, and fans reckon that YouTube may have inadvertently confirmed that we can expect the long-awaited Trailer 3 to arrive at the same time. I wouldn't be so sure, though.

Rockstar Games announced last week that GTA 6 pre-orders will go live on June 25, making its November 19 release date feel more real than ever. At this point, it's also been over a year since Trailer 2 – we didn't get one with the pre-order announcement – and most fans expect we'll get our next look at the game this week, coinciding with the devs asking fans to splash their cash.

The theory already makes sense – certainly a lot more sense than some of the wild speculation we've seen from fans over the last few years – but as highlighted on Reddit, some believe YouTube has outright confirmed it. A new comment posted by the site's official account on GTA 6 Trailer 2 reads: "Consider us busy June 25th."

So, the biggest video-sharing platform is hinting that it's going to be busy because of GTA 6… after the second trailer hit 19 million views in its first four hours? You can understand why some believe that Trailer 3 is "most likely confirmed" for June 25.

Yeah trailer 3 most likely confirmed for June 25th from r/GTA6

"Seems legit. They need to scale YT servers up to accomodate all the traffic for the new trailer," one Reddit user responds, as another writes: "They definitely wouldn't have commented that for no reason."

Unfortunately, though, there's another perfectly reasonable explanation for this, and it's the one I'm most personally inclined to believe – a corporate account is simply wanting to jump in on the pre-order hype. We already know that date is when pre-orders go live, so it's not like a brand new one has been pulled out of nowhere, and it's not uncommon for brands to humanize themselves a little like this.

There's probably some real truth to it, too – I'd be surprised if a whole bunch of YouTube employees weren't pre-ordering GTA 6 that day.

With that said, as others have pointed out, the idea of a new trailer arriving on pre-order day seems fairly likely regardless of whether YouTube is teasing it or not. As always, of course, please hype responsibly.

Rumored GTA 6 pre-order prices are "just placeholders," reliable leaker claims: "Those prices are random."

With GTA 6 pre-orders right around the corner, one prolific leaker claims that certain rumored prices for Rockstar Games's upcoming behemoth aren't actually accurate, which could be good news if you were fearing for your wallet.

Over the last few days, fans spotted that French retailer Fnac had posted five mysterious listings on its site, named RS1, RS2, RS3, RS4, and RS4, all releasing on November 19 – GTA 6's release date. Folks quickly assumed these could be placeholder listings for the upcoming GTA 6 pre-orders, with the different prices reflecting different editions, from the standard game to a pricier collector's edition.

Either way, it appeared that the game wasn't going to come cheap. The lowest price was €89.99, while the highest was €199.99, suggesting that even a basic copy of the game with no extras would be more expensive than most games on the market. Well, according to reliable leaker Billbil-kun, these listed prices don't mean anything at all.

"Those SKUs are just placeholders bcz EAN codes (like UPC in US) aren't belonging to Take2 traditional games prefixes," Billbil-kun writes on Twitter. Regardless of whether you keep up with the technicalities of European Article Numbers or not, the point is simple: "Those prices are random ones," the leaker claims.

Billbil-kun "can't do much to get real prices" right now, but based on their track record of accurate leaked prices, special editions, and more for countless other games, it's definitely worth considering their perspective here. I'd imagine that there's still a chance that the prices could end up being correct, but it sounds like that'd be a coincidence more than anything else.

One thing is for sure: we don't have long to wait to find out. Last week, Rockstar Games announced that pre-orders for GTA 6 will go live on June 25, and people are going to need to know how much they're spending to put those pre-orders in. Fears of a $100 price for GTA 6 have been lingering for months at this point – it'll be interesting to see if those end up coming to pass, or if Rockstar surprises us all with the deal of the year.

We've been waiting so long for GTA 6 that someone just found another GTA 4 swingset glitch after 18 years.

It may not seem like it, but a streamer playing Grand Theft Auto 4 and watching their character get flung into outer space after crashing their motorcycle is one of the most significant things to happen to the game in the last 18 years.

GTA streamer Gtamen successfully found a "swing glitch" or "swingset glitch" (parks tend to be where it happens the most) that nobody else has ever found before. They were casually riding their bike down a pier when they drove into a tight spot between a gate and a pole. As soon as they got close, their character was instantly killed and catapulted into the sky.

Gtamen watched this happen in disbelief asking his chat, "What the fuck was that?" Then, of course, he went and tried it again. "Oh, it's consistent," he said, watching his character take flight once again.

"I literally just unironically found a new fucking swingset glitch or a launch glitch in this game!" he exclaimed.

Most notably, Gtamen's character wasn't killed the second time he performed the glitch, which is rare if you're not doing it in a car. That doesn't necessarily make it particularly useful for anything, but it's a neat occurrence that other swing glitch locations don't always offer.

The swing glitch is one of GTA 4's most famous glitches and one that I'm pretty sure I've encountered while playing the game. Honestly, before seeing the clip I had no idea that it was repeatable and something the community has been cataloging for years.

I guess that's what happens when you have nothing else to do but wait for the next GTA game. GTA 5 almost entirely removed the glitch, which just leaves GTA 6. We can only hope that Rockstar will save some spots that'll turn your character into a rocket when it's out in November.

The UK government has reportedly been paying employees to play GTA Online with random people to understand their "lived experience"

GTA fans rejoice as Rockstar Games is keeping one of the series long-running traditions alive with the box art for GTA 6.

Rockstar Games released the first bits of info for GTA 6 we've had in over a year, since the last massive trailer dropped, but unfortunately, this didn't manifest in a third trailer for the game. Instead, it was news that pre-orders for the game will start next week, alongside the reveal of its box art. Plus, a short clip of Vice City itself was uploaded to the website, showcasing the Florida environment in more detail than before.

Since the 3D era of GTA started, covers have been the same, with the collage-style cover design making its debut in GTA 3 (albeit with other regions getting unique art for that one) before returning in every game since. And as fans have noticed throughout the series, every single one of these games has featured a helicopter in the top left – the sole exception being the DS spinoff Chinatown Wars, which didn't actually feature helicopters as it returned to the top-down perspective.

And as you can see here, Rockstar hasn't forgotten about its tradition despite the 13-year wait between games, with the GTA 6 box art featuring a helicopter in the top left. And fans are excited, too, as the top comment on the GTA subreddit post unveiling the cover is "The helicopter is back on the corner!"

Lack of a trailer aside, the good news here is that if pre-orders are starting, we hopefully won't see another delay (or at least not a major one). The other bit of good news is that Rockstar didn't mess up with the cover art for the game and kept one of the game's oldest traditions alive.

The UK government has reportedly been paying employees to play GTA Online with random people to understand their "lived experience".

Leave it to Rockstar. Today's reveal of the GTA 6 cover and the announcement that pre-orders will go live next week would've been news enough, but the devs have also gone and given us our best look at Vice City yet, thanks to a very brief video clip quietly added to the game's official website.

That clip offers a brief flyover of Vice City, pulling away from the downtown skyscrapers over an industrial park, harbor, and apparent apartment complexes on the other side of the bay. Most enticing about this clip are the vehicles, including an array of helicopters, planes, luxury yachts, freight boats, and more that we'll presumably be able to hijack in-game.

You can watch the clip below, or head over to the official website to pore over it in its full glory, going frame by frame with each click of your mouse wheel. I guess Rockstar knows we're all thirsty for details this far out from the last trailer, so the studio's giving us the tools we need to make the most of this one.

moving shot of Vice City in Grand Theft Auto VI

— @wario64.bsky.social (@wario64.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-06-18T15:02:10.076Z

This actually appears to be an opposite view of the same stretch of downtown Vice City that we previously saw in a screenshot last year – the ferris wheel makes clear that it's the same location. Players have already been piecing the GTA 6 map together for ages, and I suspect that they'll just about have central Vice City all mapped by the time pre-orders go live.

Those pre-orders will go live on June 25, as Rockstar confirmed alongside today's cover art reveal. That means we're finally going to have an answer to arguably the most burning question about GTA 6: just how much is it going to cost?

For all the new games of 2026 and beyond, you know where to click.