The gaming industry has taken a dip since the historic highs of the COVID lockdown era. The impending release of the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI, which has gamers searching high and low for any shred of information, is currently considered so big that it could potentially shock the industry out of its doldrums, bring new gamers into the fold and perhaps unlock an opportunity for higher revenue.
Epyllion, a diversified holding company which makes venture investments, released its State of Video Gaming in 2025 report. It discusses several of the challenges facing development studios and publishers, including an ever-escalating fight over gamers’ time and dollars. This battle has led to ballooning development costs that are becoming more difficult to recoup, especially with the $70 price tag attached to most game releases.
However, analyst Matthew Ball believes that GTA VI could present a unique opportunity, with the “hope that Take-Two will price GTA VI at $80 or even $100.” This could potentially set the pricing for games moving forward, making it easier to recoup the money spent on game development.
The problem with this argument is that the GTA franchise is almost singular in its ability to drive interest and hype, potentially making it an outlier. Moreover, publishers are already charging players more than the standard $70 price, by offering several special editions. For example, Star Wars Outlaws launched with the standard edition for $70, a Gold Edition for $110, and an Ultimate Edition for $130. These additional price points don’t seem to have helped the game, nor its publisher, Ubisoft, unfortunately –even though the Star Wars IP is massive.
The leadup to the release of GTA VI has been fascinating. With gamers going gaga over any clues about the game, while industry analysts and publishers hope to be saved by it. Hopefully the game is able to stick the landing for a release sometime later this year.