GTA VI Coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming at Launch, but Only on Xbox Consoles
Rockstar Games will make Grand Theft Auto VI available on Xbox Cloud Gaming at launch next week, but only for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles. Phones, PCs and the web are excluded. Rockstar also confirmed 30fps on PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series S/X.
Rockstar Games is making Grand Theft Auto VI available on Xbox Cloud Gaming when the game launches next week, with streaming limited to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles. With GTA available on Xbox Cloud Gaming, owners of an older Xbox One can stream it instead of buying new hardware.
The restriction is notable. Xbox Cloud Gaming normally reaches phones, PCs, the web, TVs and consoles, but those routes do not appear to be part of the GTA VI deal.
What Xbox owners get
Rockstar said Xbox Cloud Gaming will use the Xbox Series S graphics settings to stream to Xbox consoles. Anyone with an Xbox One can therefore play without upgrading to a PS5 or an Xbox Series S/X.
Xbox's own announcement mentions only streaming for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One owners. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma called the cloud deal "the first step in our new 10-year strategic partnership with Take-Two." She also said the game is "the most pre-ordered game ever on Microsoft Store."
Microsoft plans to add Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2 and more to Xbox Cloud Gaming in "the coming months," according to Sharma.
Not formally exclusive
Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball said on X that Microsoft would not be streaming the game exclusively. Microsoft's contract may not specifically state exclusivity, but the practical result is that Xbox consoles are the only place to stream GTA VI from the cloud at launch.
Sony may still announce its own cloud streaming plans. Rockstar said the game "will also fully support Remote Play on PlayStation and Xbox." Remote Play is not cloud streaming, since it relays a game running on the user's own console.
A PC streaming version is not part of the launch. Microsoft could add the PC version later, whenever that version arrives.
Performance on consoles
Rockstar also confirmed that GTA VI will run at 30fps on PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series S/X. The main advantage of the PS5 Pro is ray-traced shadows and support for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), Sony's upscaling technology.
Pre-downloads have already started ahead of the launch. Engadget reported the preload is 212GB.
