Grand Theft Auto 6 rumored to be the most expensive video game of all time

Updated

Rockstar Games

The claims come from the same hacker who leaked gameplay from an early build last year.

Messages from the leaker behind last year’s Rockstar Games hack claim that the highly anticipated title has had the most expensive development process in video game history.

The details:

In September 2022, 18-year-old Arion Kurtaj broke into Rockstar Games' servers and stole video footage and screenshots from the upcoming GTA 6, with Rockstar confirming on social media that the content was indeed "early development footage," making it one of the industry's largest ever security breaches. Kurtaj was eventually arrested and charged with 12 offenses stemming from multiple hacking incidents, but he was deemed "unfit for trial" after a psychiatrist evaluation.
Twitter user @GTAVInewz shared screenshots of messages sent by the hacker on a message board before his arrest last September. According to the hacker, the game has been in development since 2014, with a total of $2 billion USD spent on it up to that point. Based on the source, this is possible, and it wouldn't be surprising given that GTA V cost a total of $265 million to produce in 2013.
It appears that the hacker may have misinterpreted the data they had access to, however, as TweakTown's Derek Strickland pointed out that portions of the total cost were likely used to develop its online mode, which is seen as a standalone product, as well as a large marketing campaign for its release. If Rockstar intends to connect GTA Online between GTA V and GTA 6, the development costs could be significant.

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