rockstar says the $1.5b gta 6 budget number is wrong but won't say what it actually cost

Saw the Bloomberg piece going around and Rockstar finally shot down that $1.5 billion budget rumor. They're not saying what the real number is though, which feels about right for them.

The $1.5b figure got compared to the Burj Khalifa at one point, and Rockstar says that's not accurate. But they also won't confirm how much they actually spent getting the game ready for November. Multiple studios, a whole LA team just for NPCs, years of work. The real cost is probably still massive, just not that massive.

Preorders are already past 5 million copies according to Sensor Tower, which is over half a billion dollars before the game even launches. Some analysts think it could climb to 25 million preorders by launch day, around $2 billion. Zelnick has already said preorder numbers can be misleading and they won't reveal them, so I'm taking all those projections with a grain of salt.

The $400 collector's edition is also selling well, and that thing doesn't even include the game. Just merch. People are really out here paying $400 for a box of GTA 6 swag and Rockstar is fine with that.

Then there's the online side. Still no official word on GTA 6 Online, but the rumor is 2027. Chet Faliszek from Valve said it might be hard to pull people away from GTA Online because a lot of players have years invested in their characters and crews. I get that, but a new map and new mechanics will probably do a lot of the convincing.

Either way, Rockstar is going to make an absurd amount of money off this thing. The budget denial is just them keeping the mystery alive while the preorder money rolls in.

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Source: GameSpot · Curated content.