Martin Klima, co-founder of Warhorse Studios, has a bold wish for Rockstar and Take-Two ahead of GTA 6’s launch. He hopes the game sets a new price floor for triple-A titles, giving studios like his own room to raise their own prices. The irony is that Klima admits GTA 6 doesn’t appeal to him at all.
“I am not going to be playing GTA 6 unless I’m somehow forced to,” Klima told PC Gamer. “And the reason why it is so popular — it beats me. It’s something which I just fail to understand.”
Klima’s Case for Higher Prices
Klima framed the request as a matter of survival for the industry. Triple-A games face a plateauing audience, the death of brick-and-mortar retail, and no new revenue streams to cover rising development costs. His argument is blunt: the business needs more money in, and the only lever left is the price tag.
“We destroyed retail, and we took all their money,” he said, describing the collapse of physical sales. “There’s no other revenue stream coming in. So the last thing you can do is to increase the unit price. That would help a lot, but everybody’s scared to death about it.”
His hope is that GTA 6 will break the fear barrier. “Now, hopefully, GTA will blaze the trail, and it will allow us to increase the cost,” he said.
GTA 6’s Price Points
GTA 6 is already testing the upper limits of what consumers will pay. In the U.K., the Standard Edition costs £69.99, which matches the typical price for a big triple-A release. In the U.S., the price jumps to $79.99, ten dollars above the usual new-game point.
The Ultimate Edition goes further, at $99.99. That version comes with in-game content most players will want, meaning the premium bundle carries a significant markup over the base game.
“Consumers pay for the value that you bring to them, and our job is to charge way way way less of the value delivery.”
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick addressed the price question directly in a previous statement. His framing was that consumers should feel the purchase delivers both an amazing experience and a fair price. “How you feel about something you buy is the intersection of the thing itself and what you pay for,” he said. “Consumers need to feel like the thing itself is amazing and the price they were charged was fair for what they got.”
Zelnick also stressed the scale of the project. “What we think about is making the most spectacular piece of entertainment on Earth, in history — and it’s a pretty daunting challenge,” he said. “If we do that, and if we’re of service to our customers, then the upside will take care of itself.”
The Cost of GTA 6
GTA 6 is widely speculated to be the most expensive game ever made. Take-Two is estimated to have spent between $1 billion and $2 billion developing and marketing the title. The game’s marketing machine has already been on full display, with a reported $1 million stunt in Miami generating buzz.
The stakes are high. GTA 6 is expected to be the most popular entertainment launch of all time, breaking records when it launches to the public this November. Analysts predict GTA 6 will generate $5.2 billion in sales by the end of launch week.
What Klima Wants From GTA 6
Klima’s position is that Take-Two and Rockstar are uniquely positioned to lead on pricing. They are the only companies, he argued, who can afford or dare to increase the price of games, which he thinks is long overdue and necessary for the business to survive.
His logic is simple: if Rockstar raises prices and survives, other studios will follow. “That would help a lot, but everybody’s scared to death about it. Now, hopefully, GTA will blaze the trail, and it will allow us to increase the cost.”
The catch is that Klima is not the target audience. He admitted as much in the same interview. “I am not going to be playing GTA 6 unless I’m somehow forced to,” he said. “And the reason why it is so popular — it beats me. It’s something which I just fail to understand.”
The Industry Context
Klima’s comments come at a moment when triple-A pricing is under pressure. Physical retail is dead, digital sales are flat, and the cost of making a blockbuster keeps climbing. The unit price is the one lever left, and Klima wants GTA 6 to pull it.
The U.S. price of $79.99 for the Standard Edition is a meaningful shift. Ten dollars above the standard point is a statement, and it sets a precedent for what a tentpole release can charge.
Whether the market accepts it is another question. GTA 6’s popularity is undeniable, but the price test will be answered in November when the game launches for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles on November 19.
The Reaction
Klima’s hope is sincere, but it lands with a certain irony. A founder who admits he will not play the game he wants to raise prices on is asking another company to blaze a trail that benefits him directly.
The situation is amusing. Klima is betting on a game he does not want to play setting a price that lets him charge more for his own work.
Key Facts Box
- GTA 6 Standard Edition: £69.99 in the U.K., $79.99 in the U.S.
- GTA 6 Ultimate Edition: $99.99
- Take-Two estimated development and marketing spend: $1 billion to $2 billion
- GTA 6 marketing stunt in Miami: reported $1 million cost
- Analyst-predicted launch-week sales: $5.2 billion
- Launch date: November 19, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles
The broader question is whether the industry can sustain higher prices. Klima’s hope rests on GTA 6 proving the model works. If the game sells, the trail is blazed. If it flops, the conversation changes.
For now, Klima waits. He will not play GTA 6 unless forced, but he hopes it forces everyone else to rethink what a triple-A game costs.
Source material: “Kingdom Come: Deliverance Dev Hopes GTA 6 Will Encourage Studios to Charge More for Their Games,” IGN.
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