GTA 6 Locked In-Game Content: What You Are Missing and What You Are Not

Grand Theft Auto VI comes in two editions with a $20 difference between them. There's been a lot of noise surrounding the announcement, primarily because of the no-disc revelation and paywalled content. This has made it difficult to find out what lies behind each price tag, so you can decide for yourself whether the upgrade is worth it.

We're here to help you with that with a breakdown of each GTA 6 edition. Feel free to skip to the table if you just want the quick answer.

Let's start with the Standard Edition. At $79.99, this is the complete game. It isn't a stripped-down version. It's the entire core Grand Theft Auto experience, complete with Jason and Lucia's story across the state of Leonida and Vice City. You get full access to the entire map, every core gameplay mechanic, and, presumably, access to GTA 6 Online whenever the online mode goes live. In other words, the whole single-player story and the whole world are yours at the base price.

Per Rockstar's official listing, the Standard Edition includes only the game, and Standard Edition owners can buy the Ultimate Edition Upgrade separately at any time after redeeming their code.

On top of that, there is a separate pre-order bonus called the Vintage Vice City Pack. It comes with any digital pre-order or purchase made before November 20, and with physical pre-orders as well, so it applies to Standard and Ultimate buyers alike. It is a pre-order incentive. Its inclusions aren't part of either edition's core contents.

Rockstar's listing ties the free month of GTA+ specifically to digital pre-orders and purchases of either edition before November 20, alongside the Vintage Vice City Pack items. The pack's vehicle, outfits, and weapon pattern are available with physical pre-orders, too.

As for the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition, it costs $99.99, a $20 premium over Standard, and bundles the full game and the Ultimate Edition Upgrade. The $20 paywall hides a stack of vehicles, cosmetics, customization venues, and some actual gameplay content. Rockstar notes that these Ultimate Edition bonuses are threaded across all aspects of Jason and Lucia's story, with new items uncovered behind each chapter.

Critics argue that this is a lot of content hidden for people willing to pay more for what's already one of the most expensive games on the market at its suggested retail price. However, no one's really forcing anyone to do anything. Getting three specific premium vehicles up front, for example, is more of a convenience, and there's no proof that you won't be able to get them through normal gameplay anyway, as rare as they may be. Meanwhile, the personalized weapons appear to be cosmetic variants. These are styled versions. Even the exclusive apparel is purely cosmetic.

If that changes at launch, it matters, but there is no indication these guns, apparel, and vehicles outmatch what everyone else has.

The exclusive shops, salons, and tattoo parlors are the ones that sound bigger than they are. These are customization venues, places to change your appearance, get a haircut, add a tattoo. Missing them doesn't lock you out of gameplay or story-related missions. You're locked out of a few places to accessorize and customize your character.

The exclusive side quests and missions are the only items genuinely locked behind the $20 payment. This is real playable content sitting behind the higher price. Everything else on the list is stuff you either do not need or could shrug off.

If you want the complete GTA 6 experience, which is the whole story and the whole map, Standard delivers that in full. If cosmetic depth, early access to specific vehicles, and squeezing every last mission out of the game matter to you, the Ultimate Edition isn't all that much more expensive, at only $20 more. At the end of the day, it all comes down to how much you value that bundle. Neither is a wrong answer. They are just different priorities.

Regardless of which you buy, you won't be getting a physical disc at launch, nor anytime soon, anyway.