That’s Grand Theft all right!
Fans of Grand Theft Auto are fuming over the “greedy” pricing and paywalls set for the highly anticipated latest installment of the popular video game series.
Rockstar Games, developers of “Grand Theft Auto VI,” surprised gamers with two versions of the upcoming game last week when it finally allowed pre-orders ahead of its Nov. 19 release.
The standard edition of the game, retailing at $80 — already $10 more than the industry standard — disappointed longtime fans by locking tons of story content, including access to stores, cars, vehicle modifications, clothes, tattoos, guns, and missions and more behind the $100 “ultimate edition” of the game.
“They clearly wanted to charge $100 for the game but were scared of the backlash,” said Andrew Duran, a PC gamer and longtime GTA fan who purchased a $600 PlayStation just to play the title in November, as there is no PC release pending.
“There’s no other reason they would paywall a bunch of story content and shops throughout the in-game world,” he added.
Other gamers agreed, and said that Rockstar games was being “greedy.”
Some fans of the series also shared how perplexed they were, and said the price of the game shows how bad the economy has become — pointing out that back in 2013, when GTA V was first released, the same company was selling a bundle that included the game, a PlayStation 3 and headphones for $300.
Gamers also expressed their fears that this pricing strategy could be just the latest aspect of daily life that is seeing prices soar as businesses cater to deep-pocketed customers willing to spend anything — driving prices up for everyone else.
“I can’t help but feel this is what the developer actually wants the standard version to be, while its $80 version is feeling distinctly like a Lite Edition,” Molly Taylor, a gaming reporter, wrote in an opinion piece in PC Gamer magazine.
Taylor went on to call the company’s pricing scheme “anti-consumer” and leaves her concerned for the future of the video games industry.
Beyond just the “ridiculous” $100 price tag for the full, unrestricted version of the game — fans pointed out an additional obstacle will likely turn into a massive payday for Rockstar Games off of the backs of unsuspecting players.
Pre-ordering the game comes with a “free month” of GTA + for everyone who purchases before the Nov. 19 release date, which gamers described as a “trap,” since the billing on the premium online gaming membership auto-renews after the month ends.
The “physical” version of the games won’t include a disc, just the case with a code for a digital download inside, according to the company.
But the price tag isn’t scaring any fans away.
A recent poll of over 10,000 gamers found that over 80% plan on purchasing the $100 edition of the game, according to Insider Gaming.
In the first 24 hours of pre-orders, Grand Theft Auto VI supposedly surpassed 39 million pre-orders worldwide, generating more than $3 billion in revenue and already turning profit on its estimated $2 billion budget, according to USA Today.
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