How does rockstar actually make money off of this?

[Sichimus]

When you consider how little money you actually get for real life money spent, it's genuinely surprising that this game is such a cash cow. Come on. $100 for 8 million? 8 million is a drop in the bucket, you could probably spend that in 20 seconds. To get even a decent foothold into starting the game you would have to blow $200. The shark cards seem so insanely overpriced I just don't understand who is actually buying them

[[-iD-]]

kids with their parent's credit cards.
https://segmentnext.com/2016/10/05/gta-online-revenue-exceeded-700-million/

[lipe]

the game is paid
youtubers pay sharkcards
kids pay sharkcards

[katsuragi]

why would anyone buy a shark card when you can just beg a modder for free $?

Not that I do that, I just grind like a moron with no life, but knowing that I could get the $ free I absolutely would never pay for it.

[Nepu (Soggy Mango)]

Originally posted by katsuragi:

why would anyone buy a shark card when you can just beg a modder for free $?

Not that I do that, I just grind like a moron with no life, but knowing that I could get the $ free I absolutely would never pay for it.

PLS NO beg modder for money drop
true tho grind moneys

[DevilDaRebel]

Originally posted by katsuragi:

why would anyone buy a shark card when you can just beg a modder for free $?

Not that I do that, I just grind like a moron with no life, but knowing that I could get the $ free I absolutely would never pay for it.

Most players are on consoles.

[Caped Crusader]

Originally posted by Sir Cods:

$100 for 8 million? 8 million is a drop in the bucket, you could probably spend that in 20 seconds. To get even a decent foothold into starting the game you would have to blow $200. The shark cards seem so insanely overpriced I just don't understand who is actually buying them

I completely agree that they're overpriced at regular MSRP and face value, but I would suspect that many players who buy shark cards do so when there's a special targeted offer in the loading screens for additional money for redeeming one. Those offers vary, from I think as low as $500k bonus to 2.5X the card value. So with that top bonus offer, that's $20m total for a Megalodon card. A bit better in terms of value, but then it's also possible to get the cards from fairly reliable sources with better pricing. It's been 2 years now since I got a shark card, but that last time I purchased 2 Megalodon card codes on cdkeys for about $40 each and with the 2.5X bonus that added $40m to my bank account. I put a decent chunk of that into buying and upgrading a Nightclub and saved the rest for future DLCs.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1744114733

[Nepu (Soggy Mango)]

Originally posted by Caped Crusader:

Originally posted by Sir Cods:

$100 for 8 million? 8 million is a drop in the bucket, you could probably spend that in 20 seconds. To get even a decent foothold into starting the game you would have to blow $200. The shark cards seem so insanely overpriced I just don't understand who is actually buying them

I completely agree that they're overpriced at regular MSRP and face value, but I would suspect that many players who buy shark cards do so when there's a special targeted offer in the loading screens for additional money for redeeming one. Those offers vary, from I think as low as $500k bonus to 2.5X the card value. So with that top bonus offer, that's $20m total for a Megalodon card. A bit better in terms of value, but then it's also possible to get the cards from fairly reliable sources with better pricing. It's been 2 years now since I got a shark card, but that last time I purchased 2 Megalodon card codes on cdkeys for about $40 each and with the 2.5X bonus that added $40m to my bank account. I put a decent chunk of that into buying and upgrading a Nightclub and saved the rest for future DLCs.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1744114733

12 million for a megaloden shark card? could buy some properties and some good cars

[Mewsha]

Yeah there's been videos done on Youtube about how in-game prices have inflated to a ridiculous degree where as shark card prices have remained the same.

My best guess is a lot of newer players aren't aware of the extreme inflation that has happened over the years. I don't think Shark Cards are terrible in and of themselves, but they're ridiculously overpriced on consoles because they're set at or close to retail price.

You can get them significantly discounted elsewhere on PC, like around $35-$40 for the most expensive card on key sites, and when you pair that with a shark card promotion, that's a lot of money at that price and so many hours saved.

I also think that console people are willing to pay more, because well generally they pay more than we do on PC. Console, specifically PS4, is the only market they truly care about and they're buying those cards up like crazy at retail price, so we've never seen an increase because why would Rockstar do that when people are buying them at ridiculous rates right now. It's the right thing to do, but it would also cost them so much money.

Also, receiving significant amounts of modded money will get you money wiped, possibly account wiped. That's a brutal punishment that just isn't worth it if you're a longtime player. The recent mass account wipes for the people that did the money glitch was proof that Rockstar does not play with their money, and it came after a history of only doing money wipes for that type of offense. I wouldn't recommend that anybody who is going to invest time in this game receive modded money.

[浩凯浩凯]

but i don't know

[Eminem]

They run revenue streams outside of shark cards. At present there are still active running promotions with Amazon Prime and Twitch. As an example if you link your rockstar account to an active amazon prime membership you get monthly perks so am sure Rockstar gets a cut when players do this.

[Bad Harmony]

CoD games have been a scam since a decade, yet people keep buying them & DLCs & battle passes & more useless preorder stuff.

Most of people just don't sense the ripoff in buying certain stuff and they go ahead. But hey, with all those shark cards sales at least the game keeps getting updates big and free.

[JobeGardener]

Shills that get bribed to push garbage products. This game is dead. Cayo Perico? What a joke.

[morph113]

Originally posted by -iD-:

kids with their parent's credit cards.
https://segmentnext.com/2016/10/05/gta-online-revenue-exceeded-700-million/

Or just people who have enough money. Not everyone is poor. There are people that have enough money so these prices are nothing.

Originally posted by katsuragi:

why would anyone buy a shark card when you can just beg a modder for free $?

Not that I do that, I just grind like a moron with no life, but knowing that I could get the $ free I absolutely would never pay for it.

Why buy a car when you could just steal one off the street? Why pay for Netflix if you can just download or stream movies illegally? Why buy games on Steam if you can just download them on piratebay? Why pay for shark cards if you can just ask modders to drop you money?

[[-iD-]]

Originally posted by morph113:

Originally posted by -iD-:

kids with their parent's credit cards.
https://segmentnext.com/2016/10/05/gta-online-revenue-exceeded-700-million/

Or just people who have enough money. Not everyone is poor. There are people that have enough money so these prices are nothing.

can you prove this statement? and i don't think anyone in their right mind would actually buy shark cards unless they had unfettered access to some one elses credit card XD.

[morph113]

Originally posted by -iD-:

Originally posted by morph113:

Or just people who have enough money. Not everyone is poor. There are people that have enough money so these prices are nothing.

can you prove this statement? and i don't think anyone in their right mind would actually buy shark cards unless they had unfettered access to some one elses credit card XD.

What do you mean with proving? Do you think everyone thinks like you or do you think everyone has no access to money? I'm not rich but I don't have other hobbies and earn enough to be able to easily afford expenses like that. I sunk hundreds or even thousands into some games. GTA V I only bought a couple of shark cards over the years but still, that money I paid means nothing to me because I can easily afford it.

What do you want me to prove, that some people have money? Do you think everyone is living with an empty bank account?