What the Nintendo Switch 2 Price Increase Means for GTA 6

For nearly a decade, the Nintendo Switch established itself as the more affordable alternative to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Its successor has no plans of living up to that reputation.

After today's Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo confirmed, among many other things, that it will start selling games for at least $80 for their digital copies, with some retailers already pricing physical copies at $90.

This surprising price increase sets a precedent for Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games to do the same for Grand Theft Auto 6. Previously, it had already been rumored that GTA 6 would end up being priced at a significantly higher price point than today's titles. One analyst even said that the price increase would help save the video game industry.

The current $70 price tag was firmly established half a decade ago, with Take-Two among the first to adopt the new pricing. Later this year, Take-Two could do the same thing and give GTA 6 a substantial price bump. It is worth noting that not every Nintendo Switch 2 game will receive the same pricing treatment. Currently, it's only confirmed for Mario Kart World, which is the latest installment in one of Nintendo's best-selling franchises.

Other games are still listed at $70. Still, now that the monkey is out of the bottle, who knows what game is next? The video game industry has always been a copycat industry. So long as one company is brazen enough to flirt with potentially disastrous criticism and find success with it, others will follow suit.

With Nintendo pushing pricing for certain titles to $90, others will look to see if they can get away with it, and very few franchises have the level of good will that Grand Theft Auto has. Take-Two and Rockstar could very well use this opportunity to test the waters and see if anyone is willing to pay a premium to play GTA 6 once it comes out later this year.

If GTA 6 is indeed price at $80 or $90, the current United States administration's tariffs could push this to $100 if not beyond in certain countries, making it nearly as expensive as video games in the 80s and 90s when adjusted for inflation.

Of course, Take-Two and Rockstar could invert the expectations and buck trends by sticking to the current status quo. Even before you factor in a price increase, GTA 6 is already expected to make multiple billions in its first week. By maintaining its current pricing, 'GTA 6 _will receive even more free marketing than it's already getting, potentially drawing even more attention and players to it.

Then again, there's a reason why many believe that_ GTA 6 could be the first game to be sold at a $100 price point—it is the "king" and simply because it can. With that said, we can now at least be sure that Nintendo won't be the biggest beneficiary in case GTA 6 _is delayed with the Nintendo Switch 2 set to release on June 5 with pre-orders already live as of the moment of writing.

With Take-Two expected to ramp up its marketing efforts for_ GTA 6 in a few months, we won't have to wait for too long to find out just how much we'll have to shell out for GTA 6_. For now, we'll have to wait until at least May for official word on_ GTA 6_. In the meantime, you can place your_ GTA 6_pre-orders at these Swiss and Malaysian retailers.