As the development costs of AAA games continue to rise, an analyst from Bank of America recently proposed that Rockstar should increase the price of "GTA6" to US$80, saying that this move will be beneficial to the healthy development of "the entire gaming industry."
There have been industry speculations that the retail price of "GTA6" may be higher than the current mainstream price of US$70. Now, BofA Securities equity analyst Omar Dessouky made that view clear in a report released after the recent Iicon event in Las Vegas.
Dessouky pointed out that if "GTA6" is released at the current industry standard price of $70, it may have a negative impact on other games that hope to increase prices appropriately to achieve sustainable development. He wrote in the report: "The feedback we heard at the meeting was that if "GTA6" is launched at a price of $70, it will be difficult for the entire industry to sell other games at a price of $80."
He believes that as a publisher and a partner of many developers, Take-Two raises the price threshold for the entire industry, which is in its own interest.
It is worth noting that Take-Two was the first major publisher to raise the price of games to US$70 in the current console generation, and many manufacturers followed suit on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S platforms. Now, Bank of America’s suggestion is to push that threshold higher again.
However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick did not explicitly support the $80 pricing at the Iicon event. He said: "Consumers pay for the value they receive, and our mission is to price well below the value we deliver."
Michael Pachter, managing director of Wedbush Securities, also said: "We believe Take-Two plans to sell the game at an unprecedented price point, and management may do so by giving away a large number of GTA Online” in-game currency, incentivizing consumers to pay $100 or more per copy”
As of now, Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two have not officially announced the final pricing of "GTA6". Regardless of whether it is finally set at US$70, US$80 or higher, the industry generally believes that the pricing strategy of "GTA6" will become a benchmark for the entire gaming industry and affect the pricing trend of future 3A masterpieces.