Sony set for 'GTA VI' boost despite memory chip costs

Sony is set to be a major beneficiary when "Grand Theft Auto VI" finally launches, but the timing is awkward: the PlayStation maker is simultaneously wrestling with rising memory chip costs that have forced repeated price hikes on its console.

The much-delayed game comes out for the PS5 on 19 November, selling at $79.99 as an exclusively digital base version. "GTA VI will be console only, and the vast majority of new players will pick up a PlayStation 5," remarked Kantan Games CEO Serkan Toto citing Sony's strong market dominance as Microsoft's Xbox division pulls back after job cuts in July.

According to Piers Harding-Rolls from Ampere Analysis, the release will mitigate the fall in PS5 console sales and aid the growth of software revenues. The company had sold almost 230 million copies of "Grand Theft Auto V" since 2013, ensuring a great deal of attraction for the sequel's launch.

Harding-Rolls noted the launch arrives later than Sony would have liked. "Sony would have preferred GTA VI to arrive earlier in the life of the PlayStation 5 to drive momentum during its rapid adoption phase rather than when the cycle is starting to burn out," he said, adding that repeated price increases have left the console "higher than ideal" just as the game reaches shelves.

According to the company, Sony is assured of its memory supply this financial year, but it foresees high prices prevailing until the next financial year.

According to Amit Garg from CLSA, Sony will incur great losses on PS5 hardware due to current memory prices being sustained in their future contracts, and the company might reduce the volume of production pending a reduction in memory prices.

Toto believes that the PS5 successor, set to release in late 2028, will either be a handheld unit or come with a significant amount of handheld functionality. According to Amit Garg, any new product "will have to be priced at a premium", which he warns can affect sales of the consoles due to changes in memory prices.