Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 opened at midnight on 25 June worldwide, with Rockstar Games confirming the standard edition will cost £69.99 in the UK — and that physical copies will contain only a code for a digital download, not a disc.
The decision has left some fans questioning the point of buying a physical copy at all. Freelance video games journalist Vic Hood said the price was “fairly reasonable” but acknowledged the lack of a disc “may irk some physical collectors”. However, she added it made sense from Rockstar’s perspective “as it reduces the amount of rebuying and reselling and helps prevent leaks”.
“GTA 6 pre-orders open at £70; physical copies contain a download code, not a disc.”
Others queried whether they would be able to resell the game after purchase — as is standard with disc-based editions — or whether the code would be shareable. Despite the concerns, fans appeared less worried about the $10 price increase over the typical $70 (£60) blockbuster standard edition in the US. “$10 won’t be such a big hit to consumers pockets, but I still hope $80 won’t become the norm,” one posted.
Joost van Dreunen, a professor of games business at NYU Stern, described the pricing as a “clever strategy” by Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two. “Take-Two is catering to the largest possible audience while offering die-hards an upgraded tier,” he said. The premium Ultimate Edition, priced at £89.99, will include extra vehicles, weapons and outfits.
The game is scheduled for release on 19 November on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, with no PC or Nintendo Switch 2 version announced. Players who pre-order will be able to pre-load the game from 12 November to ensure they can play at launch.
GTA 6 marks a series first with Lucia — the first playable female protagonist in a 3D setting — alongside her partner Jason in a Bonnie and Clyde-esque story set in Rockstar’s fictional version of Florida, Leonida, with the return of Vice City as the main city. The narrative follows the pair after an “easy score goes wrong”.
Analysts have estimated development costs at more than $1bn (£866m), potentially making it the most expensive game ever made. The long wait for a follow-up to 2013’s GTA 5 — one of the best-selling games of all time — has been marked by delays, with Rockstar pushing the release twice from autumn 2025 and May 2026. When announcing the second delay, Rockstar said it needed extra months to finish the game with “the level of polish fans had come to expect and deserve”.
Whether any future UK age verification legislation around social media and gaming messaging will affect GTA 6 remains unknown.