Here’s one leak we could definitely get behind, and are hoping that it turns out to be true. It seems that an early listing has gone up on a web store, as can happen, outing the price for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 5 Expanded & Enhanced edition, bringing the game to yet another generation of consoles. Again.
The video game community has more or less moved on from the “$70 AAA price in the current gen” discourse, but there is still residual (understandable) resentment – which will make this particular bit of news all the more welcome. Many have assumed that, being published by Take-Two, E&E would go full profit-milking with the hiked price.
However, based on an early listing that slipped out on Lithuanian video game retailer GAME ROOM‘s site, the price is going the exact opposite direction – listed at €40.00, we can easily assume that if accurate, that means $40.00, since video game prices almost never get price matched across currencies. This is an even better outcome than sticking to the previous go-to MSRP of $60.
As unbelievable as it sounds, there are some arguments in favor of why Rockstar would do this. There is a lot of face-saving to do after the controversial launch of the 3D era game remasters that were recently launched as The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, and asking for a higher price on a game they’ve already sold some players three times is not the way to go about that.
Revenue data also shows that money gained from microtransactions in GTA Online far outstrip actual game sales, so the real goal here is to get more users hooked on Online, and a lower price is a good way to promote that – this is also why the free giveaway on the Epic Games Store way back when was such a good move. GTA Online is also going standalone, being free to keep on PlayStation 5 for the first three months, however buying E&E also grants you access.
There is, of course, a chance that the listed price is just incorrect, or a placeholder. Nothing can be taken as a guarantee until we get official pricing news from Rockstar Games – however, in the meantime, it’s good to hope.
