Grand Theft Auto VI will be playable on Xbox One. Xbox said on 10 November that the game streams through Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles, starting at 1 a.m. ET on 19 November. Rockstar's Newswire post of the same day also says the game will be available through Xbox Cloud Gaming on both. Xbox Wire lists the Xbox One as a streaming console, so cloud play is how those owners get in on day one.
How to play on each console
Xbox Wire lays it out:
- Xbox Series X: play natively. Xbox calls it the best Xbox console experience, and the game can be pre-installed now.
- Xbox Series S: play natively. Xbox calls it the most affordable way to play GTA VI natively, with pre-install available now.
- Xbox One: stream the game through Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The game uses Xbox Series S graphics settings when it is streamed. Rockstar adds that connection speeds and other technical factors can affect performance in ways local play would not. Remote Play is supported on PlayStation and Xbox.
Catches
- You still buy the game. Xbox Wire says GTA VI must be purchased separately.
- Playtime without Game Pass. From 11 November, players in supported markets can buy cloud playtime to stream supported games without a Game Pass subscription. Streaming of GTA VI begins at 1 a.m. ET on 19 November.
- Consoles only. Windows Central reports that cloud play is limited to Xbox consoles and cannot be used on PC or mobile devices, and says it asked Microsoft why. Xbox Wire's post describes the cloud option on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles and does not mention other devices.
- More Rockstar games. Xbox says it will add other Rockstar titles to Xbox Cloud Gaming in the coming months, including Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Midnight and 1 a.m. are different clocks
Rockstar Support says native releases are at midnight local time on 19 November. The cloud start is stated in Eastern Time only. See the release time article for the conversion table.
Pre-order records
Xbox says GTA VI is the most pre-ordered title of all time on the Microsoft Store and urges everyone to start pre-loading as soon as possible. The PlayStation Blog post of 10 November says it is the most pre-ordered game in PlayStation Store history, and that the unprecedented demand is why PlayStation and Rockstar opened pre-loading nine days early. Game Informer reports both claims together. Neither company gives a count. Take-Two's results from 9 November also refer to pre-orders reaching unprecedented levels without giving a number.
What is still open
No PC version has been announced, and Xbox's cloud option does not change that: see the PC release status. Whether GTA VI will join Game Pass or PS Plus is covered in the Game Pass and PS Plus guide. For choosing hardware, use the console comparison.