Rockstar's GTA 6 Collector's Box Does Not Include the Game
Rockstar opened pre-orders on September 24 for Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection, a €399.99 collector's box that ships on
Editorial Team · 2026-09-24
The GTA 6 Collector's Box Backlash, in Rockstar's Own Prices
By Editorial Team · published 2026-09-25 · updated 2026-09-25
Add ScoredApps as a preferred source on Google
A day after pre-orders opened on September 24, the loudest reaction to Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection is arithmetic: players are laying the €399.99 box next to earlier Rockstar collector's sets and asking what the money buys. Rockstar's own store answers part of that question, because most of what is in the box is sold there separately, and the last time the company shipped a game-less collector's box it filled it with something else entirely.
What was announced
Nothing new from Rockstar since the store listing went up: €399.99 as of September 2026, eleven items, shipping November 19, the game sold separately. What changed in a day is the response, and it has settled into one argument — that the set is priced as a collector's edition while its contents are merchandise.
The comparison people keep reaching for is Rockstar's own back catalogue, and the closest precedent is real. The Red Dead Redemption 2 Collector's Box, announced in June 2018, also left the game out — Rockstar's post says so in the same plain wording. What it put in was different in kind: a metal tithing box with a lock and key, a 150-page replica of the in-world Wheeler, Rawson and Co. catalogue, a double-sided wooden jigsaw, a deck of illustrated playing cards, twelve cigarette cards, a challenge coin, a six-piece pin set, a bandana and a treasure map.
Nine items, and most of them were things that only existed because the game existed. The Vice City Collection's eleven are a figure, sunglasses, a cap, a bag, a mirror, a shot glass, a swizzle spoon, a keychain, a pin set, stickers and a poster — four of which you wear and three of which live on a shelf.
What it means for players
Rockstar's store makes the price comparison easy, because it stocks the same categories on their own. As of September 2026 a Rockstar Games New Era snapback is €24.99 there, a baseball cap €29.99, an enamel pin set €39.99, a canvas tote €39.99, a drawstring bag €19.99, a water bottle €29.99 and a candle €59.99. Those are the going rates for the kind of goods that make up most of the box.
The other number that keeps coming up is the total. Grand Theft Auto VI is €79.99 on the same store, so a buyer who wants the box and the game is at €479.98 before shipping, which the listing states is not free. The album Rockstar announced for the same day is a third purchase.
None of this makes the set overpriced by itself — a licensed Oakley and a New Era hat are not cheap items, and limited runs carry a premium. It does explain the reaction. A collector's edition historically bought you the game plus things you could not get anywhere else; this one buys you goods in categories the same shop already sells, without the game.
What happens next
Rockstar has not responded to the criticism and has published nothing beyond the listing. Pre-orders remain open while supplies last, with no production number given, and the company says details for Asia, Latin America and Australia are still to come.
The real test arrives on November 19, when the box ships alongside the game and the album. Rockstar has also said more Grand Theft Auto VI apparel and collectibles are coming to its store before then — and if those items turn up individually at the prices above, the arithmetic people are doing this week gets easier to finish.
