While previous reports indicating that Xbox had signed some long-term deal with Rockstar Games for Grand Theft Auto 6 were dismissed as a “nothing burger,” according to The Verge’s Tom Warren, a new social media post by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma indicates that there might be more to it. Sharma said that the availability of Grand Theft Auto 6 through Xbox Cloud Gaming from day one is “the first step” in the 10-year “strategic partnership” between the two companies.
“Today marks the first step in our new 10-year strategic partnership with Take-Two. GTA 6, already the most pre-ordered game ever on Microsoft Store, will be playable on Xbox One through cloud gaming when it launches on November 19.” Warren has followed this post up with his own, noting that this deal extends beyond just Xbox Cloud Gaming. When asked about other details, Warren noted that he “thought it would be really obvious that ‘a new long-term Xbox publisher license agreement’ goes beyond just cloud.”
Xbox and Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto 6 would be available to play through Xbox Cloud Gaming. As part of the announcement, Xbox also confirmed that players who haven’t upgraded to an Xbox Series X/S and are still using Xbox One can experience Rockstar’s upcoming title as long as they buy it through Microsoft’s store. This doesn’t extend to PC, and fans of the platform will still have to wait until Rockstar officially announces a port.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is making its way to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19th. Leading up to this, Rockstar and Take-Two have kicked off heavy marketing, including an entire music festival slated for shortly after the title’s release. As for cloud access, PS5 users will have a more limited version through Remote Play on a PlayStation Portal and other supported devices.
In the meantime, CEO of Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, has also been teasing the studio’s future. Praising its work on GTA 6, Zelnick said that “Rockstar will focus on what comes next,” which would be announced “in the fullness of time.”
On the subject of pre-order performance, Zelnick has been cagey about revealing any official figures. However, he has said that the title has been “running far in excess of our expectations.” This comes down to the fact that the company doesn’t want to “claim success before it occurs. So we’re just days away from beginning to see the fruits of our labor.”
Estimates from analytics firm Sensor Tower indicate that the title has already generated $1 billion through pre-order sales alone, thanks to more than 7.5 million copies having been sold across both platforms. PS5 has reportedly accounted for 75 percent of sales, with Xbox making up the remaining 25 percent.
