Parts of GTA 6 will be locked behind the Ultimate Edition
Cosmetics, vehicles, shops, and more will be locked behind the Ultimate Edition paywall
Hypothetically, some time around Nov. 19 of this year, you'll be able to play Grand Theft Auto 6 on PlayStation and Xbox. If it doesn't get delayed again. It probably won't, since the release date has already moved out roughly two years, but you never know.
If you can't wait that long, you can pre-order it starting tomorrow. Every pre-order before Nov. 20 will get a "Vintage Vice City Pack" with a vehicle, garage, outfits, hairstyles, and weapon skins(?) that "flash back to when the neon burned brightest" in Vice City.
And if you pre-order, oh joy of joys, you can pre-load the game starting on November 12.
But the GTA 6 you play and the version of Florida Leonida you experience will depend, in part, on which version you buy. For $80, you'll be able to play the single-player GTA 6 that does not currently include anything like the GTA Online successor.
Now, you may notice that $80 is not $60 or even $70. Major release games have been creeping up for the last few years. The first games hit $70 around the fall of 2022. And then Nintendo broke the seal on $80 games with the launch of Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza for the Switch 2.
So, Rockstar launching GTA 6 at $80 is not that surprising. Nor is it surprising that the physical editions of GTA 6 will be an empty box with a download code inside — that's something Nintendo started doing as well.
The other version of GTA 6, The Grand Theft Auto 6: Ultimate Edition, will include a bunch of exclusives and will cost $100. You'll get "premium vehicles, weapons, [and] apparel" for that extra $20. But Rockstar has also confirmed that the Ultimate Edition will include missions, content, and even shops that are exclusive to that edition.
Per @GTA6NewsHub on X, the Ultimate Edition includes "access to certain tattoo shops, mod shops, custom vehicle options, and businesses. One of the confirmed examples is 'Rideout Customs,' which states: 'Only open for business with the Ultimate Edition.'"
Exclusive content behind a paywall isn't anything new. All of the big studios do that. That there are entire in-game shops behind the ultimate-edition-paywall feels a little egregious, but … it's Rockstar.
Speaking of, let's check in on them.
Recently, reviews of Rockstar Games in India have started showing up on Glassdoor. The one above cites overtime without pay and massive crunch in the leadup to GTA 6. Jason Schreier of Bloomberg says that it's not as bad as Rockstar's previous projects (which were reportedly nightmarish), but that's a pretty low bar.
But that review is from May. It's not like there's any from this month. Oh.
I genuinely never want to be part of such a workplace again.
If you’re not bootlicking and just doing your work quietly, they hate you for it.
Others mention "hectic days and crunching is bad" [sic] and "very long shifts that go into overtime without pay."
Meanwhile, back in October of 2025, Rockstar suddenly fired 31 people in the UK. The Independent Worker's Union of Great Britain called it "the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry. This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry."
The case — the firings, the union-busting, and some claims of blacklisting the employees who were fired — was brought before an employment tribunal. Rockstar has been trying to get at least the blacklisting part thrown out. Last week, the tribunal denied that, so Rockstar will have to answer for all of the union's claims.