Rumor: Grand Theft Auto 6’s Development Cost Could Reach $ 1 Billion

Are you worried about how much Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to cost you to buy? Well, we have a story for you.

The Most Expensive Game Ever Made?

Men’s lifestyle magazine Augustman claims that Grand Theft Auto 6 could have a development budget between $ 1 to 2 billion. They further claim that this could be partly attributed to its marketing, which is already ongoing.

But it may have also ended up being this expensive because of how long it’s taken to develop.

Is It Like The Burj Khalifa?

Augustman also made an unusual comparison to the Burj Khalifa. After being fully erected in 2009, it became the tallest building in the world.

The building cost $ 1.5 billion to make. That’s an incredible scale that other buildings and monuments have yet to match to this day.

What Is The Most Expensive Video Game Right Now?

Based on publicly available data, Star Citizen is the current frontrunner as the most expensive video game in development. As of April 2025, Roberts Space Industries and Cloud Imperium Games have raised $ 800 million in funding.

And yes, that funding is ongoing, as is development of Star Citizen itself. So this project could reach $ 1 billion in development, and go past that.

It can even reach that landmark before Grand Theft Auto 6 releases in May 2026. But for reasons we have highlighted before, there’s some doubt if Star Citizen will be released at all.

The Billion Dollar Club

AAA games do not yet regularly cost $ 1 billion to make. But, the industry is well on its way.

Based on publicly released information, we learned that the 2019 Call of Duty Modern Warfare reboot cost $ 640 million. Subsequently, Call of Duty Blacks Ops Cold War the next year cost over $ 700 million.

Will This Raise The Price For Gamers?

It would be reasonable to question if this will make Grand Theft Auto 6 more expensive for gamers. We see that games seem to be settling towards raising prices to $ 70 above the longtime standard of $ 60.

For their part, Rockstar has not yet announced a price. They may be holding onto their cards until release day to see if the market will be more or less favorable.

Ironically, many industry analysts hope Grand Theft Auto 6 will bring about a resurgence in the video game business. There is definitely a line where Grand Theft Auto 6’s sales will go beyond being a success for Take-Two and Rockstar, to genuinely bring the industry back to health.