Analyst Worries GTA 6 Players Could Face $1,000 Console Prices
Gaming industry analyst Mat Piscatella of Circana warns that players planning to purchase new consoles for Grand Theft Auto 6’s November launch will face significant price increases. The PlayStation 5 standard edition now costs $649 following a $100 price hike in April, while the PlayStation 5 Pro is priced at $900. Xbox Series consoles have similarly increased in price across the board.
Piscatella attributes the rises to increasing RAM costs and broader economic volatility affecting the gaming hardware market. He predicts console prices will continue climbing beyond current levels, and expresses concern that casual gamers unaware of market conditions will experience sticker shock when discovering how much new hardware actually costs.
The timing is significant given GTA 6’s highly anticipated November launch, which historically drives console sales during major releases. The convergence of the industry’s biggest game release with elevated hardware costs could create friction between consumer expectations and retail pricing during this critical sales window.