We always knew GTA 6 would be the most expensive game ever made. Now we’re starting to see just how staggering that figure might actually be.
A Reddit user dug into Rockstar North’s publicly available filings on a UK government website and uncovered the studio’s officially disclosed wage and salary expenses. Here’s what the numbers look like year by year:
| Period | Wages & Salaries |
|---|---|
| Apr 2019 – Mar 2020 | £191M |
| Apr 2020 – Mar 2021 | £223M |
| Apr 2021 – Mar 2022 | £346M |
| Apr 2022 – Mar 2023 | £316M |
| Apr 2023 – Mar 2024 | £315M |
| Apr 2024 – Mar 2025 | £282M |
When you add social security, pensions, and share-based payments on top, the total staff cost across all six years climbs to approximately $2.72 billion.
And that’s just one studio
To be clear, Rockstar North didn’t spend those six years exclusively building GTA 6. The Edinburgh-based studio has continued supporting GTA Online throughout, and Red Dead Online to a lesser extent. But staff costs are just one slice of the total development budget, infrastructure, technology, licensing, and operational expenses all stack on top.
GTA 6 digital price leaks at £89.99 and fans aren’t ready for it
More importantly, Rockstar North is only one of many studios involved. Offices in San Diego, Toronto, Leeds, London, Dundee, Sydney, and elsewhere have all contributed. Factor those in alongside what Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier recently noted that most AAA games cost around $300 million today, and GTA 6’s total bill could realistically reach $4–5 billion before marketing even begins.
GTA 6 launch can rewrite records
GTA 6 is currently scheduled for 19th November 2026. Given the hype, Rockstar will almost certainly recoup costs within days of release, though the long game, as ever, will likely be GTA Online’s successor.
The numbers are almost incomprehensible. But then, so is the anticipation.
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