The launch of GTA 6 promises to be the major video game event in 2026. But one subject is already making people cringe: its price. If Take-Two remains silent, many analysts believe that a €100 price could become a reality. And it’s not just a rumor: certain titles like Mario Kart World And The Outer Worlds 2 tried it before backing down under pressure.
It is in this tense context that the director of MachineGames, the studio behind Wolfenstein and Indiana Jones and the Great Circlespoke. In an interview with GamesIndustry.bizJerk Gustafsson expressed a concern rarely expressed so openly in the industry.
MachineGames warns: “You will lose players”
For Gustafsson, the solution is clearly not in soaring prices. On the contrary: “You will lose players” He calls for a fundamental rethinking of development and monetization methods, focusing on efficiency rather than increasing prices: “How can we be more efficient? How can we continue to promote our products? How can we exploit our catalog so that our old games can be reborn on new platforms?” These remarks come at a time when many AAA studios are increasing the number of remakes to make their licenses profitable and amortize the increasing costs of new productions.
Cost reduction rather than exclusion of players
MachineGames is an exception in a context where many Xbox studios have recently suffered waves of layoffs. Better yet: the Swedish studio has just opened a new office in Sundsvall. For Gustafsson, the industry must not turn inward, but rely on its ability to adapt.
A gamer himself since childhood, he analyzes this long-term evolution with lucidity: “I am 54 years old and I grew up with video games – but I believe that I belong to the first generation to have grown up with them” “This should be the peak of our installed base, the peak of the number of people who actually grew up playing daily”
A changing sector, between remakes and new models
The last few years have been marked by a massive return of remasters, often criticized but extremely effective on a commercial level. Many studios see it as a way to support their finances without taking major risks.
But if GTA 6 breaks the €100 ceiling, a divide could occur between publishers and players. MachineGames, through its voice, invites the industry to review its copy: efficiency, accessibility and long-term vision, rather than prohibitive prices.