It's official, Take-Two Interactive has priced the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 at $79.99 for the base game and locked some features behind an "Ultimate Edition", priced at $99.99. The bad news is that this time the locked content is not some simple cosmetics, a soundtrack or a digital art book, this time it looks like major game content. And even though this makes it more valuable, it also raises concerns about other studios doing the same to make an easy buck or twenty.
Below I'll be sharing all the locked features, the GTA 6 pre-orders launch date and my own thoughts on some of the decisions Rockstar Games have made with this game.
GTA 6 pre-order launch date & supported systems
As confirmed by Take-Two Interactive, GTA VI pre-orders start June 25th 2026 with a launch date set for November 19th, 2026.
As expected, Grand Theft Auto VI will repeat the same strategy that its predecessor used and focus only on consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. PC players will need to wait for a minimum of one or even two years if GTA 5 is taken as an example.
GTA 6 pre-order features locked by the Ultimate Edition
- Vehicles:
- 95 GROTTI CHEETAH mid ’90s sports car;
- Enduro motorcycle;
- Crest Kayak;
- Vapid Ganado low-riding pickup;
- Gradient pink and blue Shitzu Squalo boat;
- 67 VAPID DOMINATOR BUGGY.
- Weapons:
- HAWK & LITTLE MORGAN REVOLVERS;
- Personalized sidearms with detailed engravings for Jason’s Girardi ES9 pistol and Lucia’s Klose K17 pistol.
- Exclusive missions:
- Track down a variety of abandoned classic and work-in-progress cars to revitalize them;
- PTT YOUNGIN$ Illegal Goods Store raid.
- Cosmetics:
- Vice City Style with exclusive outfits, style, and more;
- SARA’S UNISEX SALON – “Get signature salon styles for both Jason and Lucia, including facial hair for Jason and makeup and nails for Lucia. Only open for business with the Ultimate Edition.”;
- Stock 305 clothing store;
- ELECTRIC FANG TATTOO SHOP;
- Mod shops:
- Rideout Customs – a place to transform vanilla vehicles into magnificent works of art;
- ONE-EYED WILLIE’S off-road modifications.
Locking this much GTA 6 content behind, what is essentially a $20 paywall, does not sound great to me at all. It almost feels like they were afraid to launch the full game for $100, so they purposefully dropped the price to $80 and called the full game “Ultimate Edition”.
Physical copy disappointment?
If you love physical media I've got some bad news for you. Even though you will be able to get physical copies of Grand Theft Auto VI, they will not contain a disc. As confirmed by Rockstar, all you will get is a nice looking box with a digital download code inside.
Considering that the game is expected to be 200GB or more, I guess I understand this decision (even if I don't agree with it), but at the same time, I have to ask - what's the point of offering an empty box?
GTA VI - single player only
Yes, you read that right, GTA 6 pre-orders launch only with the single player mode available. PlayStation calls it a "single-player experience at launch". If you ask me, I'm not surprised by this at all, since GTA V also did the same over a decade ago. Additionally, I feel like this gives people a chance to really experience the hand crafted marvel of this game world and story instead of immediately jumping into online mode. It serves as a way to give the devs more time to work on online elements while also not letting the hard work their team put into story mode to go to waste.
