GTA 6 Standard vs Ultimate

Standard vs Ultimate, side by side

Rockstar's store text for the Ultimate Edition lists eleven items and five shops. Not one of them is money.

That matters in a game where, Rockstar has told previewers, some story missions wait until you've raised the cash for them. Ultimate changes what you can spend on and where you keep what you steal, which is a different thing from a head start. One line in the listing touches your loot directly, and it sits in the garage section below.

What the $20 changes for your money

Ultimate saves you money you'd otherwise spend, mostly on a garage and on fast cars, rather than giving you any.

Garages are the one property you can buy in GTA 6, and Rockstar said in a preview interview that you start with room for three personal cars. Ultimate hands you the Paradise Garage in Watson Bay, where the '67 Vapid Dominator Buggy lives. Rockstar's PlayStation listing describes it as having a secure place to deposit stolen goods to be fenced, so it works as a drop for loot between a job and the fence. That is the line that touches your loot.

The vehicles change what you'd otherwise have to steal or buy. The Cheetah is a mid-'90s sports car, the Squalo is a boat with a weapons crate, and the Enduro motorbike and the Kayak wait at Jason's safehouse. Don't expect them all at once. The listing says new items are uncovered behind each chapter, and it describes the Cheetah as arriving for later-stage action.

Five shops you use but don't own

The five Ultimate shops are places to spend money, and the listing says they are only open for business with the Ultimate Edition.

Rideout Customs in Vice City does vehicle interiors, rims and donk builds. One-Eyed Willie's at Lake Leonida specialises in off-road mods and hand-painted cars. Sara's Unisex Salon, Stock 305 in Stockyard and the Electric Fang tattoo parlour, with over 50 designs, cover how Jason and Lucia look. None of them is a business you run, which the property page covers in full.

Two side jobs: a gang compound and a car collector

Two Ultimate items point to earning rather than spending, and neither comes with a stated payout.

The PTT Youngin$ Compound is a gang base you raid and escape from to score special items and distinct contraband, in the listing's words. Rockstar's editions page calls the same item the PTT Youngin$ Illegal Goods Store. Whether that contraband sells to a fence, and for how much, hasn't been shown. The Classic Car Collection is a commission from Wyman, a collector and local fixer: you track down abandoned project cars and restore them. Cars are worth money in GTA 6. What Wyman pays hasn't been shown. How stolen goods turn into cash is on the robberies page.

Is Ultimate worth $20?

It is worth $20 only if you'd use a second garage, the five shops and the two side jobs. None of it converts to cash.

The upgrade costs a quarter of the Standard price. Waiting costs nothing on price, since the add-on is $20 now and the gap between the editions is $20 too.

Can you upgrade from Standard later?

Yes. Both stores sell an Ultimate Edition Upgrade add-on, and on the Xbox Store it costs exactly the gap between the two editions in all ten regions below.

The PlayStation game page lists the same add-on but showed no price for it on 29 October. Ultimate is sold only as a download, so a boxed copy is the Standard Edition with a code inside and no disc. Rockstar's support pages say you can buy the upgrade once that code is redeemed.

What the pre-order bonus adds

Buy either edition before the end of 19 November and you get the Vintage Vice City Pack, plus a month of GTA+ on digital pre-orders.

The Xbox Store sets the cut-off at 23:59:59 on 19 November. The GTA+ month has to be redeemed within 180 days of the pre-order. Rockstar's artwork for the pack shows a Vapid Stanier, the car at the top of this page. Edition summaries add the Shore Court Garage in Ocean Beach to the pre-order bonus, which would give Standard players a garage too.

What the collector's box doesn't include

It leaves out the game itself. The Goodtime State, Vice City Collection is $399.99 of merchandise, and GTA 6 is sold separately.

Rockstar's store is reported to list eleven physical items, among them a six-inch Macca the Gator figure with a stash compartment and a poster map of Leonida. It ships on 19 November while supplies last, and some regions can't order it. Nothing reported in the box unlocks anything in the game.

Not confirmed yet

Shore Court Garage with every pre-order

Edition summariesRepeated widely, not in the store text read on 29 Oct.

A stolen-goods drop at Shore Court too

Edition summariesRockstar describes the drop for Paradise Garage only.

Upgrading mid-story gives you items from earlier chapters

Not statedThe listing says items are uncovered chapter by chapter and says nothing about late upgrades.

The upgrade price on PlayStation

Not listedThe add-on is listed with no price yet.