GTA 6's £350 collector's box doesn't include GTA 6

On 24 September Rockstar Games opened pre-orders for a Grand Theft Auto VI collector's box costing £349.99 in the UK ($399.99 in the US). It contains a gator figure, a pair of sunglasses, a hat, a bag, a shot glass and a small pile of pins and stickers. What it doesn't contain is Grand Theft Auto VI.

A premium Collector's Box featuring all the essentials for a good time, inspired by Leonida's hit TV show, Macca the Gator.
— Rockstar Games, product description

Five copies of the game, or one gator

The box is called The Goodtime State: Vice City Collection and is sold only through the Rockstar Games Store, in what Rockstar calls limited quantities. According to Push Square and VGC, it holds 11 items:

• a Macca the Gator figure with a twist-open "stash" base
• Oakley Frogskins sunglasses and a New Era 9FORTY cap
• a Leonida Keys crossbody bag
• a pink magnetic mirror, a manatee shot glass and a swizzle spoon
• a razor blade keychain, nine enamel pins, nine stickers and a double-sided poster

Macca the Gator, for the uninitiated, is a fictional TV show inside the game. So this is £349.99 of merchandise for a programme that doesn't exist, from a game nobody can play until 19 November.

For scale, the Standard Edition of GTA VI costs £69.99 on the UK PlayStation Store and the Ultimate Edition £89.99. The merch box costs exactly five Standard Editions.

The game itself isn't quite "physical" either

This is the same launch where the boxed version of the game doesn't include a disc. Rockstar confirmed back in June that "Physical copies of GTAVI will contain a code that can be redeemed for the digital download of the game. A disc will not be included in the box." Both boxed and digital buyers can pre-load from 12 November.

There are a couple of other small print items UK buyers should know about. The PlayStation Store listing says pre-orders include a month of GTA+, Rockstar's subscription, which renews automatically unless you cancel it. And the Ultimate Edition locks certain in-game shops and activities to people who paid the extra £20.

A pre-order spat, for good measure

Meanwhile, the platform holders are arguing about who is selling more pre-orders. The Verge reported, citing Xbox sources, that GTA VI pre-orders were "heavily skewed" towards PS5, according to Push Square. Xbox, which has had a rough few weeks of cuts, pushed back. Its executive Matthew Ball replied on social media that the game "is breaking records for Xbox" and that "our internal analysis shows our share of pre-orders to be matching our share of the console market." Neither side has published numbers, so treat both claims as marketing until someone does.

Why a £350 box of pins matters

Here's Ada's take. On its own, a pricey collector's box is harmless. Nobody has to buy it, and fans of limited-edition tat are adults spending their own money. The game carries a provisional PEGI 18 rating, so the razor blade keychain and shot glass are at least on-brand for the audience.

The pattern around it is more interesting. The disc has gone. The Standard Edition sits at £69.99 while some content is held back for Ultimate buyers. A subscription is bundled in and set to renew. And the most expensive thing you can pre-order doesn't include the product at all. Each of those is defensible. Together, they show a biggest-ever launch being built to extract as much as possible from the most enthusiastic customers, rather than to give everyone the same thing on day one.

For the UK, where a boxed game used to mean something you could lend, resell or trade in, the "code in a box" point matters most. A £350 box of pins is optional. A disc-free boxed copy is quietly becoming the default.

To be fair to Rockstar

Collector's editions are nothing new. Selling the merch separately means people who just want to play aren't pushed into an expensive bundle, and people who want the gator don't have to buy a second copy. Rockstar is simply charging what a very loyal audience is willing to pay.

Mind the hype. £349.99 buys you a gator, a shot glass and no game at all.

Sources: Push Square, VGC, PlayStation Store UK, Push Square (no disc), GameSpot, GTA 6 News, Push Square (pre-orders)