What GTA 6 Costs to Run

Grand Theft Auto VI launches November 19, 2026, 25 days from now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S. Those machines draw a measured amount of power, and electricity has a price, so the running cost is arithmetic rather than a guess — unlike the PC requirements everyone else is publishing, which do not exist.

Cost by console

Annual running cost by console at the US average electricity rate
Console	Playing	Idle	Per hour	Per year
PlayStation 5	200 W	47 W	3.9c	$35.02
PlayStation 5 Pro	235 W	47 W	4.6c	$39.98
Xbox Series X	200 W	30 W	3.9c	$32.61
Xbox Series S	75 W	20 W	1.5c	$13.47

2 h play and 2 h idle a day at 19.42 cents per kWh. Draw is measured in-game, not a manufacturer rating.

Cost by state, on a PlayStation 5

Annual PS5 running cost across US state electricity rates
State	Rate	PS5 per year
Nevada	13.11c	$23.64
North Dakota	14.12c	$25.46
Washington	14.91c	$26.88
South Dakota	15.36c	$27.70
Missouri	16.22c	$29.25
Indiana	17.51c	$31.57
Pennsylvania	21.73c	$39.18
New Jersey	24.95c	$44.99
Massachusetts	29.61c	$53.39
Hawaii	52.72c	$95.06

Nevada to Hawaii is a 4.0-times difference for identical play — a wider gap than between any two of the consoles.

The idle hours

A PlayStation 5 sitting on its dashboard draws 47 W, and a console left on draws it for a long time. At 2 hours of play a day it takes 8.5 idle hours before the dashboard costs as much as the game — which a machine left on overnight passes without trouble. Standby is 1.3 W and costs almost nothing; the expensive state is on and idle, not off.

Reading these numbers

Measured draw, not a rating

Every console figure here is a meter reading taken while a game was running. The PlayStation 5 held 200 W with brief peaks of 207 W; across the 4 machines, sustained draw runs from 75 W (Xbox Series S) to 235 W (PlayStation 5 Pro). At the national average that is $1.46 and $4.56 per 100 hours of play.

Standby and the dashboard are different states

A PlayStation 5 left on its dashboard around the clock draws 47 W, which would cost about $80 a year at the national average. In standby it draws 1.3 W — about $2 a year.

A console against a gaming PC

For scale, this site's estimate for a whole gaming PC runs from 218 W with a GeForce RTX 4060 to 609 W with a GeForce RTX 5090, against 200 W for a PlayStation 5. The PC figures are an estimate built from rated card power; the console figures are measured.

Common mistakes

Using a peak reading as the running draw. The PlayStation 5's 207 W is a brief peak; 200 W is what it holds.
Treating standby and the dashboard as the same. 47 W against 1.3 W is roughly a 36-fold difference.
Pricing a PC version. No PC version or PC requirements have been published; see GTA 6 system requirements.

Where to go next

GTA 6 system requirements — what is confirmed about the hardware, and what is not.
GPU running costs — the same sum for a gaming PC, card by card.
Methodology — the formula, the measurements and their sources.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run GTA 6?

At 2 hours of play and 2 idle a day, a PlayStation 5 costs about $35.02 a year at the 19.42-cent US average. That is 3.9c an hour of play. An Xbox Series S does it for $13.47 a year, because it draws 75 W against the PS5's 200 W.

Does leaving the console on cost much?

More than people expect. A PS5 idling on its dashboard pulls 47 W — not nothing, and it is drawn for however long you leave it. At 2 hours of play a day, it takes 8.5 idle hours for the dashboard to cost as much as the game does. Leave it on around the clock and the idle hours win comfortably.

Which console is cheapest to run?

The Xbox Series S, by a wide margin: 75 W playing against 200 W on a PS5, which works out at $13.47 a year against $35.02. It is also the least powerful machine GTA 6 is confirmed to run on, so the saving is not free.

Does my state change the answer?

By more than the console does. The same PlayStation 5 costs $23.64 a year in Nevada and $95.06 in Hawaii — 4.0 times the bill for identical play.

What about a PC?

There is no PC version to cost. Rockstar Games has announced none and published no requirements. If you want the same sum for a graphics card you already own, the GPU running-cost calculator does it for 34 cards.

Sources

Release: Rockstar Games announcement
PlayStation hardware: Sony PlayStation 5 technical specifications (Mark Cerny, Road to PS5)
Xbox hardware: Microsoft Xbox Series X|S technical specifications
Power draw: Digital Foundry / Eurogamer measured console power draw
Electricity rates: US EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, residential

Rockstar has not published PC system requirements for Grand Theft Auto VI and has not announced a PC version. Anything presented elsewhere as GTA 6 PC requirements is a guess. The console hardware and power figures here are manufacturer specifications and independently measured draw; the running costs are computed from those and from state electricity rates, and a real bill depends on your tariff and how long you actually play.

Data on this page last verified 8 September 2026. How these figures are calculated