Warhorse Co-Founder Wants GTA 6 to Lift Game Prices

Warhorse Studios co-founder Martin Klima hopes GTA 6 will clear the way for higher prices across the games industry. In an interview with PC Gamer, he argued that raising the price of each unit would help studios deal with growing production costs. His expectation is that Rockstar and Take-Two can make a move that other companies are still afraid to attempt.

The position stands out because Klima is not a Grand Theft Auto fan and does not intend to play GTA 6 when it debuts on consoles on November 19. He told the publication that the series does not appeal to him and that he cannot understand why it has become so popular. According to the co-founder, he would only play the new game if he were somehow forced to do so. His personal lack of interest, however, does not translate into hostility toward GTA or Rockstar.

Technical admiration despite a lack of interest

Klima acknowledged that Rockstar’s games are produced as major technological showcases. He said it is good that somebody is making titles he described as “technological marvels.” Despite having no interest in playing it himself, he therefore hopes GTA 6 lives up to the enormous expectations surrounding it.

The reason behind that support is the economic situation Klima sees across the industry. In his assessment, games have become extremely expensive to make, and those costs are likely to keep rising. Increasing computing power also raises player expectations for new experiences with greater complexity, detail and scale.

Klima argues that the additional revenue streams needed to sustain that growth have not kept pace with costs. In his view, audience growth has come close to its limit, leaving less room to cover expenses simply by finding more buyers. Digital marketplaces are also already delivering the maximum possible return on each unit after physical retail lost its former position.

The Covid-19 pandemic created what Klima called artificial demand that temporarily supported the business. That boost has faded, while companies that expanded too far have subsequently imposed cuts. From the Warhorse co-founder’s perspective, the industry now needs another way to finance increasingly expensive productions.

GTA 6 as the first step

For Klima, the remaining option is to raise the unit price of games directly. He said such a move would help significantly, but companies are terrified of taking the initiative. His hope is that GTA 6 will “blaze the trail” and allow other studios to increase their own prices afterward.

Klima believes Rockstar and Take-Two occupy an unusual position in this discussion. According to him, they are the only companies that can afford, or dare, to pursue an increase of this kind at the moment. He considers the change overdue and necessary for the survival of the business, which is why he wished both companies luck.

The opinion follows an earlier debate cited by PC Gamer. In May, Bank of America Securities analyst Omar Dessouky called for a higher GTA 6 price as a move that could benefit not only Rockstar and Take-Two, but the wider industry. His argument was that Grand Theft Auto succeeding at a higher level could raise the price point used by other publishers.

PC Gamer reports that Take-Two confirmed in June that GTA 6 will launch at $80, which is $10 above the publication’s stated conventional price for big-budget releases. The outlet also characterizes the game as effectively approaching $100 through its Ultimate Edition because a significant amount of content is reserved for that more expensive version. The report does not detail which individual items account for the difference between those editions.

What this changes for players

For people planning to buy GTA 6, the immediate consequence presented by the source is the launch price already confirmed by Take-Two. The broader effect envisioned by Klima will depend on the game’s commercial reception and the decisions made by other companies. PC Gamer expects that more expensive games could follow in 2027 and beyond, but presents that outcome as an expectation rather than an announcement from publishers.

The interview also leaves several important questions unanswered. It remains unknown whether GTA 6 will genuinely establish a new pricing benchmark, whether other studios will follow Take-Two, or how players would respond to a wider shift. Klima’s comments also do not include any specific Warhorse plan to raise its own prices. What they establish is one co-founder’s explicit hope that GTA 6 will reduce the industry’s resistance to such a move, as reported by PC Gamer.