GTA 6 won’t launch on PC, but GTA 5 didn’t either
Grand Theft Auto 6 will “push the limits of what’s possible in a highly immersive, story-driven open-world experience,” according to its makers. But, according to a news release shared Monday by GTA 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive, it won’t be doing so on Windows PC.
The decision to launch the hotly anticipated new third-person action game GTA 6 solely on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/Series S consoles comes as no surprise, unfortunately. Rockstar Games has a history of its PC versions coming a bit later on in the development cycle. After Grand Theft Auto 5 launched in 2013, the wait was especially long, with the New York City-based studio holding off for nearly 19 months before a PC port.
Of course, it was only once GTA 5 landed on PC that its most enduring legacy was carved. That’s when its role-playing scene took off, with players pushing the bounds of decency and logic to breathe life into its chaotic streets in Grand Theft Auto Online. The PC community gave GTA 6 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim its flying Thomas the Tank Engine-faced dragons, and Call of Duty its cannabis-fueled operators, but only GTA 5’s PC players could have produced Tessa Lamb, the animal-loving driving instructor who is also — allegedly — a serial killer.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is due out sometime in 2025. The PC version? A bigger unknown.
Will GTA 6 come to the cloud?
This is a huge blow for the PC gaming community. It’s also a strange move for Rockstar, considering its most popular titles of the past 10 years have made their way to PC through the company’s proprietary game launcher on Windows.
The move also means that there will be no foundation for utilizing cloud gaming services. In pre-order GTA 6 to provide a cloud version of GTA 6, a remote PC needs to be running that game somewhere else. This is how Xbox Cloud Gaming, GeForce Now, Blacknut, and other services operate. Without a PC port, there’s no cloud game to run, leaving another set of users in the dark.
GTA 6 could come to PC with Xbox Play Anywhere
The statement from Rockstar GTA 6 looks to be open and shut, specifically leaving out Windows in its very short list of available platforms. Something to keep in mind, however, is that Windows 11 machines can run Xbox games as long as they’re “Xbox Play Anywhere” titles. That badge means your Xbox data will sync between PC and console, allowing you to run the game on both.
With Rockstar mentioning “Xbox Series X|S games and entertainment systems,” there’s a small but significant chance that Grand Theft Auto 6 can come to PC in the form of an Xbox GTA 6 game play Play Anywhere title in the Xbox app on Windows 11.
There is, of course, gta 6 development very little to support that, but Rockstar GTA 6 gameplay didn’t specifically say that Windows or PC would not be involved.
This would also pave the gta 6 news for cloud gaming since most Xbox Game Pass titles carry the Play Anywhere tag and allow users to play on any device running the Xbox Cloud Gaming app.
When is gta 6 going to come out
We’ll have to wait until the release date for GTA 6 in late 2024 or 2025 to see what Rockstar GTA 6 characters has in store for players. For now, GTA 6 rumors don’t breed confidence that GTA 6 will come to PC or cloud gaming, though things could change.