Is GTA VI going to succeed?

Rockstar Games’ long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI is releasing Nov. 19, 2026, but not all of the news about the game has been well received. With the success of GTA V, a sixth installment seemed almost inevitable, but with thirteen years of expectations, it’s equally inevitable for there to be some controversies surrounding the game. 

While writing this article, I conversed with game developer Michael Ungerer, who has been working in the gaming industry for over ten years, to get his perspective on some of the controversies around GTA VI.

The standard edition is $80. Not only is this expensive, but it sets a precedent for other games to meet that price range. Ungerer brought up how the price being on the higher side has to do with Rockstar’s confidence in people still purchasing the game despite the price. But that’s only the standard edition. To have access to certain vehicles, weapons, shops and additional content, you have to get the ultimate edition, which is $100.    

To be fair, this is similar to a DLC, which is not a GTA VI exclusive. In our conversation, Ungerer brought up how many other games do this, using Call of Duty games as an example, mentioning how extra content for those games can cost just as much, and in some cases, even more than the $20 difference between the standard and ultimate editions of GTA VI. 

It’s important to reiterate though, that not everything in the ultimate addition is cosmetic. Depending on how meta these paywall-locked weapons are, it could drastically impact the proficiency of which players can complete levels and play the game, therefore forcing players to pay to use potentially game altering weapons. Now obviously this is speaking in hypotheticals; maybe the weapons won’t be that good, maybe they’ll just be fine. But then I ask you, what is the point of paying for them? If these weapons happen to be mediocre, why is Rockstar forcing players to pay to use them?

Many people have been understandably frustrated by the time it’s taken for GTA VI to come out, with the game notorious for having numerous delays. This is a fair complaint. It’s not unreasonable to be upset that a piece of media you want to consume is repeatedly being pushed back and delayed.  According to the BBC, GTA VI’s original release day was over a year ago, and it was only announced four years ago. This means that for almost a decade, players were left unsure if they would even get the game. 

Taking thirteen years to release a game, “Generally speaking, is risky,” Ungerer said. But he also spoke about how Rockstar and parent company Take Two Interactive have placed a lot of money into the development of GTA VI, about two billion dollars according to Yahoo, GTA VI is “Much bigger than other games coming out,” Ungerer said, “Rockstar has been able to get away with not releasing GTA VI for so long because GTA V has been doing quite well and still gives them a trickle of money.”  

GTA VI won’t come with a disk. This kills the resale market. I’ve gotten a lot of games second-hand from stores that I never would’ve gotten otherwise. Without disks, there is no letting a friend borrow a disk that they want to play. There won’t be any more collecting games and putting them on display, and while GTA VI will have a box (with a game code inside); should this trend continue, games will be strictly digital with no box at all. Yes, GTA VI is just one game, but it’s a big one; an impactful one. We’ve already seen Sony following in Rockstar’s footsteps in their decision to also stop producing disks.

“Game leaks don’t really show the scope of the game,” Ungerer said in regards to the leaking of GTA VI gameplay. I agree with this, but I also want to talk about the hackers themselves. Stop Killing Games, a movement actually on the side of gamers, has publicly condemned and distanced themselves from Cyberleek in a post on their official Twitter account. Cyberleek is just focused on making money for themselves, especially when you look at the ads for the hackers cryptocurrency plastered across the leaks.

Lastly, there’s a group of people with the belief that GTA VI is going to fail, and I honestly give that a zero percent chance of happening. There’s just no chance that this game doesn’t make a ton of money. GTA VI is too big to fail. It’s the same as when people say that Avenger’s Doomsday is going to do poorly. These projects are too big, too impactful for people to not engage with them. 

Is GTA VI without its issues? No. Of course it’s not. No game is. But these issues don’t have to matter to you. Maybe you don’t care that GTA VI won’t have a disk or that some aspects of the game are locked behind a paywall, and that’s fine. I don’t think GTA VI is going to be bad by any stretch of the imagination. Rockstar has proven they are more than capable of making games that not only have a good story, but also are technically well made. As Ungerer stated,  “The game’s release is so anticipated that other game companies are shuffling around their game release dates to avoid GTA VI.” The companies are trying to get their games out “either much before or much after GTA VI.” Because even if these companies make a great game, they are just going to be steamrolled over by the goliath of a game that GTA VI is.