Rockstar Games is making Grand Theft Auto VI available on Xbox Cloud Gaming when it launches next week. While you’d normally assume that would mean Grand Theft Auto VI would be available to stream on PCs, the web, Xbox consoles, and even TVs, it appears to be restricted to just Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One consoles.
That does mean that anyone with an older Xbox One console can stream Grand Theft Auto VI instead of having to upgrade to a PS5 or Xbox Series S / X console to play. Rockstar notes that Xbox Cloud Gaming will use the Xbox Series S graphics settings to stream to Xbox consoles. It also means that Microsoft effectively has an exclusive on streaming Grand Theft Auto VI from the cloud for launch, albeit only to Xbox consoles.
I originally reported last month that Microsoft had secured exclusive Grand Theft Auto VI cloud streaming rights, but Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball revealed on X that Microsoft wouldn’t be streaming Grand Theft Auto VI exclusively. While Microsoft’s contract might not specifically state exclusive, the end result is exclusive cloud gaming on Xbox, for now. Sony may well eventually announce its own cloud streaming plans for the game, but Rockstar Games notes that Grand Theft Auto VI “will also fully support Remote Play on PlayStation and Xbox.” That’s not cloud streaming, though.
I also initially reported that Grand Theft Auto VI would be available to stream on PC, simply because the entire point of Xbox Cloud Gaming is to make games available on Xbox consoles, TVs, PCs, and the web. It’s strange to see a rare exception for Grand Theft Auto VI, but not entirely surprising. Perhaps Microsoft will eventually be able to stream the PC version of Grand Theft Auto VI whenever it launches.
Rockstar Games also confirms Grand Theft Auto VI will run at 30fps across PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series S / X consoles. The main advantage of a PS5 Pro is ray-traced shadows and support for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR).
