Rockstar Games has stated that Grand Theft Auto VI, the successor to Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), will be “coming 2025.” This announcement comes more than ten years after the release of GTA V, which was the second most sold video game in world history.
This article takes a look at the Grand Theft Auto budget over the years, as the anticipation for the next major installment in the franchise continues to continue to rise. What was the total cost of production for the two most recent games, how much money did they bring in, and how do they stack up against the most recent installment?
Statistics from Statista, TweakTown, and Twitch Metrics were used to compile the data for this visualization.
How much did it cost to make Grand Theft Auto VI?
Over the course of its humble beginnings as a top-down, two-dimensional video game in 1997, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has grown considerably in scale. After fifteen editions, Grand Theft Auto VI, which is scheduled to be released soon, is anticipated to be the most expensive video game that has ever been produced.
As of August 2023, the following is a breakdown of the prices of Grand Theft Auto VI and the two most recent significant releases, as well as the amount of money that they have made.
| Year | Title | Production Costs ($) | Revenue ($) | Copies Sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 (est.) | GTA VI | $2B (rumored) | N/A | N/A |
| 2013 | GTA V | $265M | $7.7B | 185M |
| 2008 | GTA IV | $100M | $2B | 25M |
In 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV had a budget of approximately $100 million, which was already comparable to that of major Hollywood films. With 25 million copies sold, the game made approximately $2 billion, which is a return on its manufacturing cost that is five times greater than its initial investment.
Five years later, Grand Theft Auto V (2013) had a budget that was twice as large as that of Grand Theft Auto IV (2012). A decade after its release, Grand Theft Auto V has produced close to $8 billion, with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue via subscriptions and in-game purchases. This is a model that its successor is sure to follow.
The fact of the matter is that in 2023, subscription fees and in-game purchases accounted for 78% of Take-Two Interactive’s (the parent company of Rockstar Games, the producer of Grand Theft Auto) revenue.
According to analysts, the costs of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI are estimated to be $2 billion, which includes marketing and other expenses. The extravagant budget for the game can be attributed to a number of factors, including a vast open-world (which is based on the Miami-inspired “Vice City”), cutting-edge graphics, and a game engine that is purportedly brand-new.
According to reports, the two games that are now considered to be the most costly video games ever created are Red Dead Redemption 2 (also developed by Rockstar) and Star Citizen, both of which have a budget of approximately $500 million.
During this time, shares of Take-Two Interactive had increased by more than fifty percent for the year.
