Take-Two Interactive has revealed that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 are skewing toward the more expensive Ultimate Edition, which costs £89.99, according to CEO Strauss Zelnick. The company also ruled out any Christmas discounts on the highly anticipated title.
Pre-orders skew to premium edition
When pre-orders opened on June 25, Rockstar confirmed that the standard edition of GTA 6 costs £69.99, in line with other AAA games like Call of Duty, while the Ultimate Edition costs £89.99. The latter includes a range of Vice City cosmetics and a one-month GTA+ subscription.
Take-Two described the initial pre-order numbers as 'astonishing', though no specific figures were provided. In an interview with CNBC, when the interviewer suggested that pre-orders were evenly split across both editions, Zelnick corrected: 'Actually, it is skewing more to the premium edition. That might be a reflection of the fact that the most avid consumers are the ones who are pre-ordering now.'
No Christmas discounts planned
The Ultimate Edition is only available digitally, so there is little reason to pre-order it, unlike boxed standard edition copies that contain download codes and could face supply limits at launch. Later in the interview, Zelnick was asked about holiday discounts, with GTA 6 set to launch just before Black Friday and Christmas.
Unsurprisingly, Take-Two and Rockstar likely will not offer a price reduction, but Zelnick said other retailers are welcome to do so. 'We obviously establish our pricing, and storefronts can do what they wish,' he added. 'We don't have any capability to control that. So if they reduce their price, they reduce their margin on the sale.'
'There are situations where certain retailers will price down to drive demand for other things they will sell. I can't tell you what will happen. I will tell you we preserved our pricing on GTA 5 for a very long time, much longer than a standard release of an entertainment property,' Zelnick said.
Physical discs and launch details
While boxed copies of GTA 6 may be available at slightly cheaper prices at retailers like Amazon, demand is unlikely to lead to notable price drops around Christmas, especially given the game's high anticipation. Recently, Zelnick also addressed the lack of a physical disc in boxed copies of GTA 6, saying that they 'don't really make sense for the consumer'.
GTA 6 is set to launch across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026.
