Rockstar Denies US$1.5 Billion Budget Rumour for GTA VI
Rockstar Games has denied the rumour that Grand Theft Auto VI cost more than US$1.5 billion to make. It still will not say what the game did cost.
The denial came from Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar's head of publishing, who oversees how its games are released and sold. She spoke during a daylong interview at the company's Edinburgh office, where she and other senior staff discussed the challenges of building GTA VI. When asked for the real budget, the company declined to give a figure, according to Bloomberg.
The interview forms the basis of "The Making of Grand Theft Auto VI", a feature published on 14 October 2026 at 6:00 AM EDT. It also appeared in the November 2026 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek.
Those quoted include Kolbe and Aaron Garbut, a top artist at the studio. Rockstar has a dozen offices around the world, but its power centre is Rockstar North in Edinburgh. That team works from a three-floor office that once served as the headquarters of The Scotsman newspaper.
Much of the discussion focused on Vice City, the fictional city at the heart of the new game. It is based on Miami. To capture the look and feel, staff made research trips that included riding with police, taking aerial photographs from helicopters and visiting nightclubs to study lighting.
The game is now headed for release in November 2026. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company, delayed the launch by six months, according to Bloomberg. It will sell for US$80, according to Bloomberg. Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick has only said the project "was expensive".
For players counting down to November, the interview fills in how the studio built its version of Miami. The exact cost remains the one detail Rockstar is keeping to itself.
