Category: Video Games

As the debate over the price of Grand Theft Auto 6 rages on, one developer of the original Saints Row — itself heavily inspired by GTA — has said he hopes Rockstar charges $100 for it, insisting it’s the only game in the world that can get away with it.

Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, is often asked how much Rockstar will charge for what is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time. And each time he’s asked, Zelnick dances around the question, pointing to delivering value for customers.

Adding fuel to the scrutiny is the industry’s recent jump from $70 to $80 for some games. If Nintendo is charging $80 for Nintendo Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World, and Microsoft, as many expect, jumps to $80 for its games from next year after backtracking on doing just that this year, then it’s hard to see GTA 6 priced any cheaper.

Fans often baulk at the idea of forking out $100 for GTA 6. But according to Chris Stockman, the design director of the first Saints Row game, GTA 6 “deserves” to be $100.

In an interview with Esports Insider, Stockman responded to the suggestion that GTA 6 will be the first $100 video game.

“They’re the only ones that can get away with it, Stockman said. “I don’t think it’s a rising tide that floats all boats. I think that there’ll be a tremendous amount of backlash if everyone switched to $100. Not all games are created equal. I think GTA is the only one that can get away with it, and I hope they do. I really hope it’s $100. I think it deserves to be $100.

“The scope and magnitude of this production deserves that price tag, but not everything is treated equally. It would be a disaster if everyone tried to match them.”

Stockman here is saying the sheer scope of GTA 6 will be of a magnitude higher than any video game before it. Certainly it’s rumored to have the largest development budget of all time. Rockstar has barely shown any of the game, so it’s unclear exactly how big and varied an experience it will be. But it seems like a safe bet that barring the worst disaster in video game history, GTA 6 will rewrite the record books when it comes to critical and commercial acclaim.

But is the world ready for the jump to $100? Earlier this year, a $100 GTA 6 was mooted by Epyllion CEO and analyst Matthew Ball in a lengthy presentation on the state of gaming in 2025. Near the end of the presentation, Ball said that “some gamemakers hope GTA 6 will be priced at $80 to $100, breaking the $70 barrier and helping $50 titles to move up to $60, $60 to do $70, $70 to $80 etc.”

“Packaged game prices have never been lower in real terms than they are today — even though budgets are at all-time highs and player growth is stalled,” Ball wrote. “GTA 6 could re-establish packed video game prices after decades of deflation despite rampant cost growth.”

Other analysts have poured cold water on the $100 suggestion though, saying that such is the huge excitement around GTA 6 that there’s simply no need to limit the game’s potential audience by pricing some out of the experience.

Indeed, recently published research claimed that if Rockstar were to go with $100 for GTA 6, it would actually cost the company money, with the revenue “sweet spot” remaining $70.

Price is just one of the many unanswered questions swirling around GTA 6. Another is what Rockstar plans to do with GTA Online. Could the company charge more for access to GTA Online? Will it be a standalone free download? Could Rockstar sell a subscription? Will Rockstar and Take-Two really keep GTA Online available at no additional cost, as before?

Hopefully it won’t be long before we get answers. GTA 6 is due out May 26, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Pokémon world can feel a bit idyllic at times to imagine, especially when you think of the free universal healthcare via magic healing machines provided to all Pokémon at any Pokémon Center. Since the very first games, these Pokémon Centers have been staffed by a roster of completely identical women (skin, hair, eyes, expression, everything!), all known in the anime as Nurse Joy.

But in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, for the first time, working Nurse Joys can be a little different.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduces unique Nurse Joys at every Pokémon Center for the first time in a Pokémon game. While the first one you’re likely to encounter looks like a fairly standard Joy, every woman staffing a Center has slightly different features: different skin tones, different eyes, different mouths, and different eyebrows. They’re all still in the same uniform and still sporting the same red loopy pigtails, but they now are giving a lot less pre-1980s Rockette.

This is in keeping with one of the features I’ve really enjoyed about Z-A so far: its character diversity. In past Pokemon games, towns could start to look a little samey, as every character of a single trainer class would have the exact same features copy-pasted. That has started to change in more recent games, but Scarlet and Violet took a bit of a step backward by dressing most of its cast in samey uniforms, again creating the illusion that every character looked the same.

In Z-A, though, not only do NPCs all have different facial features, their outfits can change things up a bit too. You still might see a couple of matching characters here or there, but I’ve spotted athletes sprinting through town in different colored workout gear, and artists with different colored aprons. It’s a small touch, but it adds a lot to the feeling that Lumiose City is actually populated by real people and not a lot of weird clones.

So congrats to every woman who didn’t look exactly like the original Nurse Joy in Pokémon Red and Blue (read: every woman), the job is now open to you, if you want it! Sorry to the gents though, as I still haven’t seen any men in the profession. Hopefully next game we can move into the 21st century on that front.

My review-in-progress of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now live, if you want to check out my impressions of the first 24 hours, with a full review coming next week.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Nintendo has responded to reports that its servers were recently breached by hacking group Crimson Collective, and has claimed that no development or business information was taken.

In a statement to Japanese newspaper The Sankei Shimbun, Nintendo suggested that any breach had been minimal, and limited to servers simply hosting its websites.

The short statement, below, notably makes no mention of this week’s other major hacking story that has dominated gaming headlines: the continued spread of development details relating to the Pokémon franchise, originating from a confirmed breach of developer Game Freak’s servers last year.

Nintendo had attempted to pursue those responsible for last year’s so-called Teraleak of Pokémon details — which until this week appeared to be confined to information on past projects. But Nintendo does not appear to have had much success in locating the culprit, and this week a further cache of development details that seemingly chart The Pokémon Company’s roadmap of game releases until at least 2030 have hit the internet, timed to hit alongside the launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

Last week, Crimson Collective claimed it had breached Nintendo’s servers, and an image purporting to show a long list of Nintendo development files was widely shared on social media. “We have not confirmed any leak of personal information, and there has been no leak of development or business information,” Nintendo’s statement today reads.

IGN has contacted Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for comment on this week’s further spread of information derived from the Teraleak, but has not heard back.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Disney Lorcana’s latest expansion, Whispers in The Well, has been revealed by Ravensburger and is now available to preorder. Amazon has preorders up at the moment for a booster box, the Illumineer’s Trove box, a single booster pack, and two single-player decks: Amber & Emerald and Sapphire & Steel.

All of these are set to be released on November 14 this year as well, so thankfully, you only have about a month to wait before you can get your hands on them. Get your preorders in at the links below before they sell out.

Disney Lorcana Whispers in The Well Expansion Revealed

On top of the expansion, two new Disney Lorcana playmats are releasing on the same day.

One of these is a delightful playmat featuring a design of Mickey Mouse, while the other features Jasmine from Aladdin. At the moment, they are both available to preorder for $19.99 a piece.

If the big booster box has caught your eye, it comes with 24 booster packs that each contain 12 randomized cards. Illumineer’s Trove, on the other hand, comes with 8 booster packs alongside six damage-counter dice, six card dividers, one lore counter, and a card storage box.

If you’re not looking to splash out on these big sets, though, the single booster pack will just set you up with 12 cards. As for the single-player decks, these come with 60 cards (including two foil cards of the characters featured on the front of the package), 11 damage tokens, a bonus booster pack, and a rulebook.

If you’re looking for even more card deals and preorders to drop some cash on, check out our breakdown of the best deals of the day. Yesterday’s write-up featured some great Pokémon TCG discounts and information on where you can preorder the new Magic: The Gathering’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.