PC players hoping to find a way to play GTA 6 when it launches on consoles next month must be feeling pretty disappointed, as Microsoft has clarified that Grand Theft Auto 6 will not be available to stream to PC via Xbox Cloud Gaming. The news comes after an earlier report claimed Xbox had secured exclusive streaming rights to Rockstar’s highly anticipated game.
The clarification came from Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball, who addressed The Verge’s report. Ball said the excitement surrounding GTA 6 and Xbox had resulted in some inaccurate reporting.
His full statement read, “While the excitement for GTAVI and XBOX is great to see, it has also led to some misreporting. We are looking forward to launching GTAVI on Xbox November 19, though the game will not be streaming exclusively or to PC.”
That means, sadly for PC players, that you shouldn’t expect to fire up Xbox Cloud Gaming on November 19 and find yourself wandering around Vice City without a console.
The original report from The Verge claimed that Microsoft had secured exclusive game-streaming rights for GTA 6, citing sources familiar with the company’s plans. The report followed comments from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who apparently told employees that Microsoft was preparing to do something with GTA 6 that “no other platform holder is doing.”
The report suggested the arrangement could have been significant for PC players, who as of yet, don’t know when they’ll be able to get their hands on the game.
Rockstar has yet to announce a PC version of GTA 6, with the game officially confirmed for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. A streaming arrangement could have offered PC players a way to play the game at launch without waiting for the GTA 6 PC release date.
The confusion arrives at a pretty interesting time for Xbox Cloud Gaming. Microsoft is making significant changes to the service in November, including introducing a pay-as-you-go option and changing the amount of cloud gaming time available across Game Pass tiers.
