Remember when a report from IGN claimed that Grand Theft Auto 6’s pre-orders on PS5 were beating Xbox Series X/S by six to one? And how that very quickly became eight to one? Granted, that was based on affiliate links and IGN Finds, so there’s a whole swathe of data missing. Cue Xbox swooping in not too long after, noting it had “record pre-orders” actually and that “people should wait for real data.” A completely valid statement, for sure.
But while the “official” data isn’t out yet, Xbox sources reportedly told The Verge that pre-orders for the game are “heavily skewed” to PS5. Keep in mind that the sheer number of pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 – which Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called “unprecedented and astonishing” could ensure that the Series X/S is still getting a hefty amount. But even if we assume “heavily” means 70 to 30, it’s still incredibly underwhelming for a console whose revenue has constantly declined and is now in its most challenging period yet, with memory shortages, price hikes, layoffs, restructuring, and a clear lack of a plan.
Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball has since pushed back on the report, saying that the company is “very happy” with GTA 6 pre-orders, that the game is already breaking Xbox records, and that its share of pre-orders is matching its share of the console market. But that last point is important. It doesn’t necessarily contradict reports of a heavily PlayStation-skewed split; rather, it suggests that the disparity is broadly in line with Xbox’s existing position in the console market. GTA 6 can therefore be performing exceptionally well on Xbox while still highlighting just how much smaller its current console footprint is compared to PlayStation.
Then again, it begs another question: Why are so many pre-ordering on PlayStation 5 in the first place?
Yes, it’s the dominant console with over 95.3 million units shipped worldwide. PlayStation is also a market leader, eating Xbox’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert since 2013. But even if most of those shipments are front-loaded near the beginning of the console’s lifecycle, it’s achieved that total despite its own challenges and price hikes.
Also, for all intents and purposes, Grand Theft Auto is inexorably linked with PlayStation. Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5 first launched on Xbox 360 and PS3, but the 3D era first began on the PlayStation 2 with Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas. So Microsoft could announce GTA 4 at E3, complete with then-head Peter Moore tattooing the logo on his arm in a move that was bizarre even by mid-2000s marketing standards, and follow up with a timed-exclusive deal for both expansions. It still didn’t change the fact that most players thought of PlayStation when it came to the series.
Of course, we can’t forget Sony’s marketing relationship with Rockstar Games. While we’ve only really seen limited-edition DualSense controllers, you can’t forget about previous moves, like adding Grand Theft Auto Online to PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium for several months at a time. Or the fact that Grand Theft Auto Online was free for all PS5 players with GTA 5’s Enhanced Edition back in 2022. So when Sony touts its “close partnership” with Rockstar, it’s more than just spiel.
And if all that wasn’t enough, there’s the Extended Look, which Rockstar proudly proclaimed was running on PS5. Millions upon millions of viewers saw Leonida unfolding before them with incredible depth and realism, and even if it was running at 30 frames per second, the subliminal message is already clear: You want this on PS5. The other half of that equation is that if you pick up a PS5 Pro, it will look even better (regardless of reports about whether 60 FPS will be available by launch or even shortly after).
All of this only comes back to Xbox’s problems. It’s not just the lack of high-profile first-party exclusives, and the solution – at least in the short term – isn’t to make titles like Gears of War: E-Day or Clockwork Revolution suddenly fill that void. New Xbox leadership probably thinks it’s all about leveraging its biggest franchises – Halo, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout – and pumping out as many new titles as possible.
But in this day and age where triple-A first-party exclusives take years and years to deliver, and simply commanding that they’re produced faster hasn’t really worked – especially in the quality department – you have to wonder if that’s really going to translate into increased hardware revenue. Besides, it also ignores what’s always been a massive issue for Xbox: Third-party support.
Sure, 4A Games are offering their titles on day one for Game Pass, and appearing at all the Xbox showcases, big and small. But for most, the third-party console of choice is PlayStation. It could be titles like Black Myth: Wukong, which was exclusive to the platform for a year and sold tens of millions of copies. It could be the upcoming Phantom Blade Zero, currently sitting at over three million wishlists across all platforms, and also exclusive to PS5 for 12 months. Maybe even the recently released Silent Hill: Townfall.
But even smaller releases like Falcom’s Trails series have famously avoided launching on Xbox, even if that’s more down to how its audience in Japan is primarily PlayStation-focused (with Nintendo slowly coming up). How many reports have we seen, including recently with Star Wars Zero Company, where PS5 was noted as the dominant console? How many estimates or analyses have put Xbox ahead for any multiplatform title? And as nice as other big developers have been, not a single one will make their title Xbox-exclusive. It simply doesn’t make sense, especially with the overwhelming number of PS5 players and the brand’s dominance.
If anything, Grand Theft Auto 6’s “heavily skewed” pre-orders, alleged though they may be, only expose a long-term weakness for Xbox. And before you ask why all this should matter, especially when next-gen consoles are reportedly launching next year, that’s precisely why.
While I have no doubt the biggest developers and publishers will target both the PS6 and Helix for their releases, you know which they’re favoring more. The minds at Xbox can make all these supposedly big moves, consolidating their studios, and focusing on the biggest IPs. But they’re also in the process of shutting down Ninja Theory, have already said good-bye to Undead Labs, Compulsion, and Double Fine – never mind Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush back in 2024 – and outright gutted studios like id Software. The point of these acquisitions was to deliver a diverse line-up of games, where creativity mattered, fueled by Game Pass. But that dream has long since died.
Maybe Helix’s long-term goal is to create a platform that can deliver high-fidelity visuals for PC games, and also happens to have Xbox exclusives, however sparse they may be. Pricing will be a problem; forget catering to those who already own high-end PCs. Whatever the case, it feels like time is a flat circle with this division. Not enough games, acquire a bunch of studios, still not enough games, close several studios, repeat until the division is probably spun off entirely. And let’s not forget about the developers that it signed publishing agreements with, only to leave them high and dry, such as Avalanche’s Contraband and IO Interactive’s Project Fantasy, which led to layoffs for both.
The worst part is that this isn’t an issue Xbox can solve, whether it’s dominating a significant market share with its current hardware or showing third-party studios why they should favor its platform (unless they’re Hideo Kojima, of course).
So while Grand Theft Auto 6’s popularity on PS5 may be elementary, it’s far from a sign of the times for Xbox. And if the response is to simply lean on the strength of its biggest IPs as reassurance for the future, it may risk overlooking the broader challenges reflected in those rumored pre-order numbers
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
