Highlights
- GTA Online players can use an exchange rate of 1 real dollar to 100 GTA dollars to make in-game prices appear more reasonable.
- This method makes cheaper items like clothing more accurate in price, but falls short for high-ticket items like jets.
- Players still need to earn money in-game, but recent updates offer new ways to boost cash flow, like bounty hunting missions.
The in-universe pricing of Grand Theft Auto Online can be egregious at times, but one player has figured out a very straightforward method to make more sense of it. Even though Grand Theft Auto Online is in its 11th year, the game has still retained its position as one of the most popular live-service juggernauts currently available.
As GTA Online grew over the past decade with regular content updates, developer Rockstar Games also caught some flak for inflating the in-game economy by somewhat ludicrous proportions, especially when compared to real-life currency. Most notably, the prices of new vehicles were progressively hiked with each content update, to the point where the scooters required for GTA Online‘s recent addition of pizza delivery jobs cost an exorbitant $195,000, with the discounted trade price set at $146,250. Anyone with the slightest perspective on real-life currency would know that these prices are miles beyond scooter territory.
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In all fairness, GTA Online is ultimately a game and requires some suspension of disbelief. However, for the GTA Online players who adopt an RP playstyle, Reddit user JoskiLani has discovered a simple but effective way to contextualize the in-game prices to make them more coherent when compared with real-world currency. In a recent post on the r/gtaonline subreddit, JoskiLani proposed an arbitrary exchange rate between the GTA$ and USD currencies, stating that players could consider one real dollar equivalent to 100 GTA dollars.
1/100th Trick Makes GTA Online Prices Far More Fathomable, But There’s a Caveat
JoskiLani used the prices at a clothing store in GTA Online to make their point, where a basic white t-shirt costs an absurd $535. According to the user’s proposed exchange rate system, the price of the t-shirt would compute to $5.35 USD, which is nearly spot-on to what it would cost in real life. Similarly, this 1/100th method also makes the outrageously high prices of certain GTA Online vehicles, such as the aforementioned pizza delivery scooters, more palatable. However, JoskiLani’s trick does fall short as it moves up the price chain. For example, it reduces the cost of the $4 million Hydra jet to just $40,000, which is obviously nowhere near indicative of real-world fighter jet prices.
It also goes without saying that this method only makes for a perceptual change, and players still have to earn money in accordance with GTA Online‘s economy. Thankfully, the recent Bottom Dollar Bounties summer update for GTA Online adds new fiscal avenues, such as bounty hunting missions, pizza delivery odd jobs, and enhanced dispatch mission payouts, for players to funnel more cash into their bank accounts.
Grand Theft Auto Online
Grand Theft Auto Online became its own standalone entity separate from Grand Theft Auto V but still ties into the original story with a cavalcade of familiar characters. Players can create their own characters and embark on various missions and heists throughout San Andreas and the surrounding area.
- Released
- October 1, 2013
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar North
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- How Long To Beat
- 120+ Hours
- X|S Enhanced
- Yes
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- File Size Xbox Series
- 101 GB (July 2023)