Grand Theft Auto 6is one of the most anticipated games ever made and could be one of the biggest releases of all time when it launches later in 2025. Rockstar is known for making high-budget, incredibly detailed, and ambitious titles unmatched by the rest of the genre, and althoughGTA 6has impossible standards to aim for, due to the 12-year gap between titles, the studio is adamant to meet them. The budget behind it shows as much, making some film franchises blush, if the rumors are to be believed.
Games have been getting more expensive in recent years, and it isn’t unusual to see AAA games have budgets on par with Hollywood blockbusters.Insomniac’sSpider-Man 2cost an eye-watering $300 million, eclipsing the price ofNo Way Home(excluding marketing costs).GTA 6is looking like the latest and most extreme example of this.
GTA 6’s Rumored Budget Of $1-2 Billion Makes It The Most Expensive Game Ever
It Could Cost More Than All Of Ubisoft
Accordingto Insider Gaming,GTA 6is rumored to cost Rockstar Games a truly astounding $1-2 billion, a figure unheard of in the gaming industry. Getting into the hundreds of millions has become more common, but even AAA titles (and Ubisoft’s AAAA games) tend to be $300 million at the most.GTA 6will likely shatter this, and even spreading this budget across the roughly seven years the game has been in development doesn’t make it look any less shocking.
GTA 6will allegedly cost $100at launch, a figure that has caused a lot of controversy.
The budget of this single game is worth more than whole companies. Take Ubisoft, for instance. A big name in the industry despite suffering some financial problems, they have a market cap of $1.72 billion,according to Stock Analysisas of July 13, 2025. This means that ifGTA 6ends up closer to $2 billion, which is likely after factoring marketing costs, this single game could be worth more than all of Ubisoft, the industry giant behind franchises likeAssassin’s CreedandFar Cry.
How GTA 6’s Rumored Budget Compares To Previous GTA Games
It Blows GTA 5’s Massive Budget Out Of The Water
Comparatively,GTAstarted quite humbly, with the original costing $1-2 million in 1997.GTA 2cost $3-4 million,GTA 3cost $5 million,Vice Cityhad a similar budget,San Andreasdoubled it to $10 million, andGTA 4upped the ante massively, costing $100 million.This was then dwarfed byGTA 5’s $250 million, a budget that isn’t far off what most AAA gamesare sitting at today, butadjusting for inflationputs it at roughly $340 million. This would be a massive figure today, but could potentially be a third or less ofGTA 6’s budget.
GTA 6 Running At 30 FPS Is A Deal Breaker
Grand Theft Auto 6 may not be able to reach the standard of 60 FPS that players expect, as shown by how GTA 5 is handling its upgrade.
Rockstar seem quite comfortable with the idea thatGrand Theft Auto 6could be the biggest game release of all time. It has a lot to live up to, and the standards could very well be impossible to meet, but Rockstar’s track record implies thatGTA 6will be something special. Whether it will be $1-2 billion special remains to be seen, and of course, whether it will make that money back.
