Ahead of its release, GTA 6 was reportedly going to be exclusively streamable via Xbox Cloud, including on PC. This news spread globally yesterday. Just a few hours later, Xbox publicly walked back the claims.
What did The Verge report about GTA 6 and Xbox?
According to The Verge, Xbox was supposed to be the exclusive platform to stream GTA 6 via the cloud at launch. This would mean no console was needed, as Xbox Cloud Gaming also runs on PC, smart TVs, and mobile devices. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reportedly announced at a town hall that they were planning something around GTA 6 that "no other platform is doing." Additionally, pay-as-you-go plans for streaming were expected in November. This would have allowed PC players to play GTA 6 without a native PC version, albeit without mods and PC-specific options.
What does Xbox say about the reports?
Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball contradicted these claims on his personal social media channels. He wrote that while the excitement for GTA 6 and Xbox was great, it had led to misinformation. He expressed excitement for GTA 6's launch on Xbox on November 19th, stating, "however, the game will neither be exclusive nor streamed on PC." This means the PC hope via cloud streaming is off the table for now. Rockstar has not yet announced a native PC version.
What does this mean for PC players and console fans?
Those who want to play on PC will have to continue waiting for a potential port. For the console launch, the familiar division remains: PlayStation holds the marketing rights and promotes GTA 6 with its own DualSense controllers and the slogan "plays best on PS5." Xbox attempts to counter with promotions, such as the aforementioned streaming plan. That plan, at least in the reported form, has now been denied.
From our perspective, this case illustrates how nervous the market is ahead of the release. Every piece of news about GTA 6 spreads in minutes, and denials often only come hours later. How much pre-order pressure Xbox is actually feeling remains to be seen. Ball himself stated that the game is breaking records on the platform. Read more about the marketing surrounding the release in our article on the Miami Heat's Vice City promotion.
Source: IGN
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