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With GTA looming, consoles are getting expensive at the worst possible time
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With GTA looming, consoles are getting expensive at the worst possible time
Grand Theft Auto VI is a system seller. But now the systems are a tough sell.
Grand Theft Auto VI is a system seller. But now the systems are a tough sell.
by Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Senior entertainment editor
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Jun 26, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC
Image: Rockstar Games
Part Of GTA VI: all the news on Rockstar’s next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series see all updates
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Andrew Webster
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
The release of Grand Theft Auto VI is a singular moment, the kind of massive cultural phenomenon that makes people want to go out and buy a console to play it. It is the preeminent modern example of what’s known as a “system seller.” There’s almost certainly a large audience of people who were waiting to buy a console because all they really play on it is GTA, and they haven’t needed to upgrade since GTA V. But there’s one big problem: At the same time people are getting excited to finally play GTA, the hardware it runs on is becoming prohibitively expensive.
Fans have been waiting for the next Grand Theft Auto for a long time. GTA V originally launched in 2013, and it was subsequently ported to multiple generations of consoles, landed on PC, and, with a little help from its enduring online mode, went on to become perhaps the most lucrative single entertainment product in history. That’s a lot to live up to, and the hype around GTA VI is unlike any game I’ve ever seen. The launch, on November 19th for the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S, is expected to be so big that other game publishers are moving out of the way for fear of getting lost in the shuffle.
When developer Rockstar first confirmed that it was working on the game back in 2022, the two consoles were available at very different prices. The PlayStation 5 launched at $499.99 for the base model, but after a pair of price hikes, it now sits at $649.99.
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More in: GTA VI: all the news on Rockstar’s next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series
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