Grand Theft Auto 6 Budget Estimated to Be Over $1 Billion, Take-Two CEO Says 'It Was Expensive'

Grand Theft Auto 6 is one of the most anticipated video games in history. Rockstar Games' open-world crime title is also believed to be one of the most expensive game ever made. While Rockstar parent Take-Two has not disclosed GTA 6's budget, the company is believed to have spent up to $1.5 billion on developing the game, according to latest estimates from industry analysts.

The astronomical figure, quoted in a new Business Insider interview with Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, would place GTA 6 among the costliest video game productions of all time.

When asked how much Take-Two had spent on making GTA 6, Zelnick declined to give a specific answer, but said “it was expensive.” Analysts, however, told the publication that the game's budget was likely in the range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion.

Rising Development Costs

That figure isn't surprising. Grand Theft Auto 6 has been in development for over eight years at Rockstar and will be at the cutting edge of graphical fidelity and immersion. Several recent triple-A releases have been confirmed to have budgets in hundreds of millions. GTA 6 is likely to be much more expensive than the average triple-A blockbuster.

In 2023, court documents from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial over Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard revealed that Sony had spent north of $200 million on first-party games like The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Forbidden West.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Zelnick admitted that development costs had gone up and AI had not helped cut productions costs. “And we really do aim to deliver the highest quality entertainment on Earth. And that is costly,” Zelnick told the publication.

But Take-Two is also expecting a healthy return on investment. GTA 6 is widely expected to be the biggest entertainment launch in history. Last year, analysts estimated that the game would likely collect over $1 billion from pre-orders alone. GTA 6's predecessor, GTA 5, made $1 billion in three days of launch. Grand Theft Auto 6 is also expected to generate $3.2 billion in revenue in the first 12 months of its release.

It's also worth noting that the game is initially only launching on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. A PC version will likely follow next year and rake in more sales.

Rockstar and Take-Two have not yet confirmed the price of GTA 6, but some expect the game to be priced above the $70 standard for current-gen consoles. Last month, Zelnick addressed the concerns around the game's price and said that consumers would pay for the value offered.

The Take-Two boss said that Rockstar was focussed on making the “most spectacular piece of entertainment on Earth.” — “If we do that, and if we're of service to our customers, then the upside will take care of itself,” Zelnick added.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to launch on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X on November 19, 2026.