GTA 6 is expected to be comfortably the most expensive video game ever made. Even though GTA 7 is likely to be even bigger and broader, a former Rockstar dev thinks the continued presence of AI and its improvement will take away lots of the man-hours and manual labor costs.
May 2026 is expected to be one of the biggest months in gaming history. While a few games are expected to launch, nothing will come close to Grand Theft Auto 6—unless it’s delayed again. It’s the biggest video game in history, and it’s expected to also have the largest budget for any title, too, by some margin.
Logically, GTA 7 could eclipse its status and budget, but a former dev doesn’t think so.
GTA 6 Will Remain The Most Expensive Game Ever?
Former Rockstar Games technical lead Obbe Vermeij worked on Vice City, San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto 4, and various other GTA titles.
He recently appeared on the KIWI TALKZ show and discussed GTA 6 and GTA 7.
Vermeij believes the “bulk of the work is probably going to be replaced” by AI for GTA 7, and that many things can be “rendered by AI.” He also added his prediction for a potential seventh mainline game: “GTA 7 will be cheaper to make than GTA 6,” and “we’ll have to wait 15 years to see if I’m right or not.”
The former technical lead thinks that AI will replace much of the work, meaning GTA 6’s more manual approach will ensure it stays the most expensive game. “I think there’s not gonna be a bigger game than GTA 6 because a lot of that stuff is going to be taken over by AI whether we want it or not. So, I think these banks of artists that are just building massive maps or massive cutscenes, I think some of that will be taken over by AI in the next, you know, five years or so,” said Vermeij.
Is the increased use of AI becoming more concerning for the games industry by the second? Do we need to draw some boundaries and guidelines to protect talented artists and developers? Share all your thoughts with us through the Insider Gaming forum.
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Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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