Grand Theft Auto 6 is easily one of the most expensive video games in history, if not the most expensive. Although its total budget has not been officially confirmed yet, several sources have estimated how much money Take-Two, Rockstar Games’ parent company, has had to invest to develop such an ambitious entry in the series. Below, we explain everything we know so far, using the most reliable data available.
In May 2026, thanks to an interview with Business Insider, we learned from Strauss Zelnick himself that GTA 6 has been a "very expensive" project to make, in the words of Take-Two’s own CEO. At the time, analysts estimated the game’s budget at between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. That is an astronomical figure for a video game, far above almost any other triple-A title.
In fact, it is probably fair to say that the money invested in GTA 6 could go beyond $2 billion by the time it launches, or may even have passed that mark already as we write these lines. As explained on Reddit, by checking public documents filed online by the UK government, we can look at the finances of Rockstar Games UK Limited over the last few years.
This company is the legal name behind Rockstar North, one of Rockstar Games’ biggest and most important teams. If we assume that GTA 6 may have entered full production from 2019 onward, which we do not know for certain but seems plausible after the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, then we can use the company’s salary-related expenses from that point on as a reference and add them up to get a very interesting estimate.
Putting all these costs together, which are public on the GOV.UK website, the figure quickly rises to around £1.6 billion, which is equivalent to about $2.1 billion. Of course, this does not mean GTA 6 has cost exactly that amount on its own, since Rockstar also continues to support other projects, with GTA Online being one of the most obvious examples. Still, it is striking to have such huge numbers on the table, especially considering that they only refer specifically to the Rockstar North team. And we should not forget one key thing: GTA 6 has been developed by many Rockstar teams, some of them based in the United States, where salaries are even higher...
BREAKING: Rockstar North has spent over $2.1 BILLION on salaries and wages since 2019, an official UK government document reveals.
GTA 6 is set to be even more expensive than previously thought, it will likely cost over $3 billion in total. pic.twitter.com/e5PuStVX3I
— Grand Theft Auto 6 Alerts (@GTA6Alerts) March 29, 2026
On top of that, it is not unreasonable to think that GTA 6 may have been in development for around a decade, even if it was not in full production during all that time. And we still have to add the budget for global marketing campaigns, which is usually counted separately and, for this kind of major release, can easily reach at least a couple of hundred million dollars.
All of this paints a truly jaw-dropping picture, and it explains why analysts believe GTA 6 may have had a total budget of $3 billion, no more and no less. As we said, Take-Two has not given an official figure, but thanks to document research, salary data and expert estimates, we are probably not too far off the mark. We will have to see whether the company eventually decides to reveal the real number.
