The price of the GTA 5 Xbox Series X/S remaster has been spotted online, giving us our first look at how much the latest version of Rockstar’s acclaimed open-world shooter will cost.
A listing for the Xbox Series X/S version of Grand Theft Auto V was spotted on the Australian official Xbox store by prolific gaming deal tweeter Wario64. The game is listed for AU$ 59.95 - which equates to about $44.00 / £33.50 - and is currently discounted to AU$29.97 - about $22.00 / £16.73.
Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X/S version of Grand Theft Auto Online, GTA 5’s multiplayer component, can be bought separately for AU$30.95 - about $23.00 / £17.30 - and is also currently discounted to half price.
According to the page’s description, the 50% discount will be live until June 14, 2022. That's a long time, given the next-gen versions of GTA 5 are planned to release later this month on March 15.
In the run-up to that launch date, Rockstar has been feeding fans more details about the remaster, including GTA 5’s PS5 and Xbox Series X/S graphics options. You’ll be able to choose from three graphics modes: Fidelity, which offers 4k resolution and ray-tracing at 30fps; Performance, which drops ray-tracing for 60fps and 4k resolutions; and Performance RT, that’s a hybrid selection of the other two modes.
Analysis: a fair price?
Given that GTA 5 was released almost a decade ago, and has already received one next-gen port to the PS4 and Xbox One, we’d expect this latest remaster to launch with a healthy price cut. The vicinity of $20 to $25 seems appropriate, although those that don’t snap up the game before June will be stuck paying double that figure once the discount ends. That’s not a small amount, considering many will have already played through the game several times over.
Graphical improvements, faster loading times, and all the other benefits of the latest hardware will convince many to shell out again for Rockstar’s open-world shooter. Add to that immersive 3D audio and haptic feedback for the PS5, and those who live to jack police cars or cause mayhem will be convinced.
Some may think the discounted price isn’t as generous as it might first seem. CD Projekt Red recently released the next-gen upgrade of Cyberpunk 2077 for free to all players who currently own the game on PS4 and Xbox One, making the pricing of this GTA 5 remaster harder to stomach. But Cyberpunk 2077 is complicated by its controversial launch. Many see its next-gen version as the true version of the game, and the one they were promised before launch. Don't expect many other publishers to follow CD Projekt Red by giving away remasters for free.
PS5 players will be getting a freebie, however. If you play GTA V Online on PS4, you can claim the multiplayer component on PS5 for free up to three months after it launches this March. Xbox players have no such luck, however, and will have to purchase the standalone title again if they want to play on Microsoft’s latest platform. Sorry Xbox players, you can't just use GTA 5 cheats to get out of this one.
