Grand Theft Auto 6 is launching this November on Xbox and PlayStation 5. And it won’t be cheap, as the upcoming open-world game from Rockstar will cost $80. But, if you want everything, including access to select in-game stores and cars, you’ll need to fork over $100 for the Ultimate Edition. This has some fans debating whether GTA 6 is, in actuality, a $100 game.
On June 24, Rockstar Games revealed a lot of new information about GTA 6, including the long-awaited price. And as expected, alongside the game’s standard version, there’s a fancier, more expensive version of GTA 6, billed the Ultimate Edition. But this $100 version of the game has more in it than simply some extra shirts and hats. Instead, the Ultimate Edition includes access to multiple exclusive in-game shops that, apparently, players who buy the $80 version of GTA 6 won’t have access to at all. There are also exclusive cars, weapons, car mods, and more. It’s a lot, and it has some fans concerned that unless you spend that extra $20, you’ll be playing a lesser, smaller version of GTA 6.
“Imagine if you have a fucking pop-up asking you to upgrade once you get close to these stores,” said one Reddit user about the locked content. “[That] would be like a fucking mobile game.”
When some fans suggested that it was clever of Rockstar to put exclusive cosmetic options, like haircuts and clothing, inside stores that can only be accessed in the Ultimate Edition, one user replied: “Never thought I’d see people glazing a company for how uniquely they lock single player content behind a paywall lol.”
Others argued that a few shops and cosmetics being locked behind a $20 paywall isn’t likely to ruin the experience or make the game feel lesser, considering how massive we know the game is going to be.
“You’re not getting an incomplete experience just because 4 shops with cosmetics and a select few cars and guns [are paywalled],” said another Reddit user. “People acting like it’s a big deal of stuff exclusive are just gonna end up pressuring people to spend more for the ultimate when they would have been fine with standard.”
And as others have pointed out, past Rockstar Games have featured different, pricier versions that locked away content. For example, GTA V‘s blimp was locked behind pre-orders and special editions of the game. The original Red Dead Redemption had a weird list of content locked behind different retailers. Red Dead Redemption II featured an exclusive bank heist and gang hideout in its Ultimate Edition. That last one is perhaps the most useful point of reference, as plenty of players didn’t even realize there was an Ultimate Edition of the game, didn’t own it, and had no idea they had, technically, missed out on some content back in the day.
“Fuck, I was not aware of this,” admitted one user. “This actually changes my perspective on the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition now because I still sunk 550+ hours into RDR2 and had no idea I was missing all that lol.”
And it’s not like Rockstar is the first game company to lock content behind a paywall. I’ll never forget Rage and its paywalled sewers. Or remember The Saboteur locking topless women behind an extra fee if you bought the game used? How silly!
Even if Rockstar isn’t the first company to lock content behind a paywall in a single-player game, it doesn’t change the fact that a portion of GTA 6 won’t be accessible to players unless they purchase the Ultimate Edition. That feels shitty, even if the content is superfluous, which doesn’t seem to be the case.
And because that upgrade is just $20, I imagine a lot of players are going to make that leap to not feel left out. It all reeks of corporate greed and bean counters wanting to milk even more money from a fanbase that is about to give Rockstar and Take-Two one of the biggest, most profitable entertainment launches in history. At least they aren’t also holding the game hostage behind an early access fee. That’s something, I guess.
Grand Theft Auto 6 arrives on PS5 and Xbox on November 19. It will cost $80 unless you want access to every store and vehicle. In that case, it will cost $100.
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