According to recent reports, Rockstar North, a primary studio behind the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise, has spent approximately £1.6 billion (~ $2.1 billion USD) on employee wages and salaries between 2019 and 2025, reportedly tied to GTA VI development. The report first emerged on March 29, after a fan analyzed Rockstar Games UK Limited’s (the corporate name for Rockstar North) financial filings in the British Companies Register.
The data covers only salary and wage expenses for Rockstar North. It excludes expenditure from other Rockstar studios, marketing costs, and broader production costs. However, GTA VI is not the only active project at Rockstar, meaning a portion of the reported wages likely supports other titles.
Neither Rockstar nor Take-Two has confirmed the figure as specifically attributed to GTA VI, as well. However, the four-year-long development window from 2022 and roughly ten Rockstar studios working on GTA VI development, speculations are rising that the development cost of the upcoming title could rise up to $3B.
What the Numbers Signal for GTA VI Development
Franchise predecessor, GTA V, was estimated to have a development cost between $206.5M and $246.8M, including the marketing cost. Compared with the projected cost of GTA VI, the upcoming title will break the franchise record as well as the gaming industry record by topping the development and marketing cost of Monopoly Go!.
Since early 2025, reports have been circulating about GTA VI’s production cost, with IGN stating the budget could go till $1B in May 2025. In August 2025, a Wedbush Securities equity research analyst Michael Pachter estimated that GTA VI's development cost could likely exceed $1.5B.
However, the latest reports suggest that all previous estimations have been surpassed. It suggests an all-time industry high, while underscoring the rising development cost of AAA titles. A $3B projection would place GTA VI not only above the gaming industry in terms of budget, but would also surpass the reported production cost of Amazon's The Rings of Power. The series was widely cited as the most expensive television series ever produced, with a $2B estimated production cost across five seasons.
