The Daily Populous Tuesday February 11st, 2025 morning edition
Authored by ign.com and submitted by alex040512

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to launch fall 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S only, leaving one platform in particular out in the cold: PC.

It’s an omission in keeping with developer Rockstar’s playbook for its previous games, but in 2025 feels outdated. And, given the increasing importance of the PC for a multiplatform game’s success, is GTA 6’s no-show on PC a missed opportunity or even a mistake?

IGN put that question to Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick ahead of the company’s recent financial results, and in his response he teased GTA 6’s eventual release on PC.

“So with Civ 7 it's available on console and PC and Switch right away,” Zelnick said of Firaxis' recently launched Civilization 7. “With regard to others in our lineup, we don't always go across all platforms simultaneously. Historically, Rockstar has started with some platforms and then historically moved to other platforms.”

Rockstar fans have noted the studio's historical reluctance to release other past games on PC day-and-date with console, as well as its fraught relationship with the modding community over the years. Still, some had hoped that a game as big as GTA 6 could be a turning point for the studio's PC gaming attitude.

Big Rockstar titles tend to get to PC eventually, but the question of how long PC gamers will have to wait for what could end up being one of the biggest games ever remains. Given GTA 6’s fall 2025 release window, which Take-Two is still confident in, it seems likely PC players won’t get to play the game until 2026 at the earliest.

When Will GTA 6 Hit PC? 2025 2026 2027 Never! Answer See Results

In December 2023, a former developer at Rockstar attempted to explain why GTA 6 is coming to PC after it hits PS5 and Xbox Series X and S , and called on PC gamers to give the studio the “benefit of the doubt” over its controversial launch plans.

But how big of a missed opportunity could skipping PC for GTA 6’s launch be? Zelnick told IGN that the PC version of a multiplatform game can generate 40% of overall sales, or even more with certain games.

That stat came as part of a discussion about the current console generation, which has seen sales of the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S — the two consoles GTA 6 launches on later this year — plummet. While Nintendo has the Switch 2 waiting in the wings, neither Sony nor Microsoft have announced their next-gen consoles. How long before the industry needs the PlayStation 6 and whatever Xbox is next?

Zelnick pointed to the PC platform as growing in importance, even as console sales fall, while publishers wait for Sony and Microsoft’s next moves.

“We have seen PC become a much more and more important part of what used to be a console business, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that trend continue,” he said. “Of course, there will be a new console generation.”

Would you buy a PS5 Pro just to play GTA 6 on the highest settings? Yes Nope Maybe Answer See Results

In any case, according to Zelnick, the release of GTA 6, which is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time, will drive console sales as fans jump into the current generation for the first time in order to play the game.

“When you have a big title in the market and we have many of them coming, historically that has sold consoles,” Zelnick said.

“And I think that will happen this year. I don't think tariffs are going to be our friend, but I think there will be a meaningful uptick in console sales in calendar 25 because of the release schedule, not just coming from us, but coming from others. So I'm not concerned about that [console sales falling]. I think the trend that you'd want to focus on is this increasing share of the market that is reflected in PC.”

Indeed, many see the PlayStation 5 Pro as a future 'GTA 6 machine,' in the hopes it will be the best platform to play the game when it comes out. However, tech experts believe the PS5 Pro probably won't run GTA 6 at 4K60.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

JourneymanInvestor on February 10th, 2025 at 18:34 UTC »

This is the same kind of hubris EA was spewing when they signed that exclusivity deal with Disney, "fans will purchase any game simply because it is set within the Star Wars universe". That statement didn't age well.

OfflinePen on February 10th, 2025 at 18:30 UTC »

Yeah, I'm waiting for a discounted PC version

MJBotte1 on February 10th, 2025 at 18:27 UTC »

That all depends on if that 100 dollar rumor becomes true or not.