Rockstar North has spent approximately $2.72 billion on total staff costs since GTA 6 entered development, according to financial documents publicly filed with the UK government and surfaced by a Reddit user this week.

The filings cover fiscal years 2019 through 2025 and break down expenditure across wages and salaries, social security contributions, pension costs, and share-based payments. Wages alone account for the bulk of the figure, peaking at £346 million during the 2021–22 fiscal year before gradually declining to £282 million in 2024–25.

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One studio among many

Rockstar North, headquartered in Edinburgh, is widely regarded as the core studio behind the Grand Theft Auto series. However, it does not operate in isolation. Rockstar maintains additional offices in San Diego, Toronto, Leeds, London, Dundee, Sydney, and Bengaluru, none of which are reflected in these figures. The North studio has also continued supporting GTA Online throughout this period, meaning the disclosed costs cannot be attributed to GTA 6 development exclusively.

Staff expenditure, while significant, represents only part of the broader development picture. Infrastructure, licensing, and operational costs would push the real total considerably higher. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier recently reported that most AAA titles now cost around $300 million to develop, a figure that contextualises just how far outside industry norms Rockstar operates.

Estimates placing GTA 6’s total budget, including an impending marketing push, somewhere between $4 and $5 billion are difficult to dismiss given what the filings suggest.

GTA 6 is scheduled for release on 19th November 2026.

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