Could the price of "Grand Theft Auto 6" seriously reach triple digits? A new executive order means that getting a five star wanted rating in the upcoming game will probably be more expensive than ever.
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00:00Could the price of Grand Theft Auto 6 seriously reach triple digits?
00:04A new executive order means that getting a five-star wanted rating in the upcoming game
00:08will probably be more expensive than ever.
00:11Video games are usually a way for us to escape real life, but it looks like the real world
00:15could have major impacts on gaming in America.
00:18President Trump has recently been discussing plans to place tariffs on imported goods from
00:22China, Canada, and Mexico, and those plans have industry analysts scrambling.
00:26At the same time, though, many gamers are now worried that their favorite hobby is about
00:30to become unaffordable.
00:32With major releases like GTA 6 and the Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon, gamers are itching
00:37to know how these tariffs could change the costs of new consoles and games.
00:41Unfortunately, the news isn't very encouraging, especially considering the rumors already
00:46surrounding GTA 6 in particular.
00:48Rockstar has been deafeningly silent about GTA 6, but rumors have swelled for a while
00:53that the game might not be priced at the current industry standard of $70.
00:57Some insiders have said they think GTA 6 will be priced somewhere between $80 and $100,
01:02which could then encourage the rest of the industry to raise prices that have been fixed
01:05for over a decade.
01:06That price increase would be hard for gamers to take on its own, but if an extra 25 percent
01:11were to be tacked onto all physical copies, the price of GTA 6 could easily become unwieldy.
01:16The president has proposed that 25 percent tariffs will be placed on all goods coming
01:20into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, as well as a 10 percent tariff on goods coming
01:25in from China.
01:26That's led to immediate concerns of price inflation for said goods, and when it comes
01:30to video games, importers don't typically have the luxury of shopping around.
01:35Take physical copies of games as an example.
01:37As gaming industry analyst Matt Piscitella has pointed out, a majority of game discs
01:41are made in Mexico, meaning that standard physical games and collector's editions could
01:45jump in price by as much as 25 percent.
01:49There's no guarantee that these taxes would impact digital storefronts, but Piscitella
01:53has predicted that publishers might raise their prices to keep digital copies consistent
01:57with their physical counterparts.
01:59Even if digital games aren't directly affected by the tariffs, the devices people play them
02:03on could be.
02:04Many consoles, like the PlayStation 5, are built in China before being shipped across
02:08the globe.
02:09Nintendo could potentially sidestep the tariffs by relying on some of its production facilities
02:14in Vietnam to build a Nintendo Switch 2, but other companies could very well be hampered
02:18by having their production centralized in China.
02:20Plus, there's no guarantee that these would be the only countries impacted by Trump's
02:24tariffs.
02:25That said, it remains to be seen when the tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico will
02:29actually go into effect.
02:31President Trump has announced a 30-day pause on his plan to impose the tariffs as he discusses
02:35terms with Mexico and Canada.
02:37For gamers, that means physical media should be safe from a price hike for at least another
02:41month.
02:42Anything could happen after the pause, though, especially considering that instituting broad
02:46tariffs was one of Trump's 2024 campaign promises.
02:49"...I always say tariffs is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary."
02:53Fans will simply have to wait and see how the situation develops.
02:57One thing is certain, though, even if GTA 6 ends up costing $125, it'll still be one
03:02of the best-selling games of the generation.