Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 opened June 25, and players immediately had a choice to make: spend $80 on the Standard Edition or drop $100 on the Ultimate. A community poll with 749 responses has given the clearest read yet on where buyers are landing.
Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI are now open, you can pre-order here.
What the numbers actually say
The split is more decisive than you might expect. 40% of respondents said they are going straight for the Ultimate Edition at launch. Only 16% chose the Standard at $80. Another 6% said they plan to buy the Ultimate Edition upgrade separately after launch, which brings the total number of players intending to get Ultimate Edition content to nearly half the poll.
The most striking number, though, is the 31% who said they are not buying GTA 6 at all. That is a significant chunk, and it likely reflects a mix of platform availability concerns, price sensitivity at $80 for the base game, and players waiting to see how the launch shakes out before committing.
Here's the thing: a $20 gap between editions is not enormous for a game of this scale, and the Ultimate Edition content list is long enough that a lot of players are clearly deciding it is worth the extra spend upfront.
What you actually get for the extra $20
The Ultimate Edition at $99.99 bundles a substantial amount of cosmetic and activity content across both protagonists, Jason and Lucia. The full list covers vehicles, weapons, outfits, tattoos, a garage, a salon, a mod shop, and two distinct side activities.
On the vehicle side, you get the '95 Grotti Cheetah, a Dinka Enduro motorcycle, a Crest Kayak, a Vapid Ganado low-rider pickup with exclusive mods, a Shitzu Squalo boat, and a '67 Vapid Dominator Buggy stored at the Paradise Garage in Watson Bay. The garage also comes with a weapon locker and a spot to fence stolen goods, which makes it genuinely useful beyond just storage.
Weapons include the Hawk & Little Morgan Revolver (his and hers versions with palm-tree-etched grips) and personalized engravings on Jason's Girardi ES9 pistol and Lucia's Klose K17 pistol.
The cosmetic side adds exclusive outfits and tattoos through Sara's Unisex Salon, Stock 305 streetwear, and Electric Fang Tattoo with over 50 designs created by artist collective FAILE. One-Eyed Willie's mod shop and Rideout Customs round out the vehicle customization content.
Two activities are also exclusive to the Ultimate Edition: the PTT Youngin$ Compound raid and the Classic Car Collection commission from a character named Wyman.
For a full breakdown of every item and what it unlocks in-game, the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition guide covers each piece in detail.
The upgrade path question
One option that is easy to overlook: Rockstar is offering the Ultimate Edition content as a separate upgrade purchase for players who buy Standard at launch and change their minds later. The 6% of poll respondents who flagged this as their plan are making a calculated bet that the upgrade will be available at a reasonable price and that they will want the content after spending time in the base game.
What most players miss is that this approach carries some risk. Upgrade pricing on Rockstar titles has historically not been discounted, and there is no guarantee the upgrade stays at the same $20 delta once launch hype settles. Buying Standard now and upgrading later could end up costing the same as going Ultimate upfront, with none of the day-one access.
Pre-orders are live now on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. If you are still weighing your options before committing, the GTA 6 pre-order guide has everything you need on platforms, bonuses, and how to lock in your copy.
