Grand Theft Auto VI is not exclusive to PlayStation, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Sony has been promoting what’s likely the most anticipated game of the decade. Pre-orders went live earlier this week, and the PS5 maker did everything possible to get players primed to buy the $80 game early. Sony reportedly secured a marketing deal with Rockstar Games, and it’s not letting it go to waste.
First, there was the PlayStation Blog post claiming that GTA VI “plays best” on PS5. Sure. Maybe? At least until the game comes to PC, though I’m sure it will work just fine on Xbox Series X, too (we’ll have to wait and see how the Series S fares).
“Best place to play.” “Best experience.” The word “best” appeared no less than six different times in the blog post. Sony was using the same marketing tagline across social media. In fact, when the company later deleted all of those posts a few hours after putting them out, some wondered if maybe Sony had accidentally crossed a line or run afoul of whatever its agreement with Rockstar was. Instead, the posts reappeared hours later, just with the updated GTA VI logo in place and an all-digital version of the PS5 instead of one with a disc (it turns out even “physical” copies of the game will only contain a download code at launch).
LOL. Sony changed the marketing from a disc console to the digital variant for promoting GTA VI. pic.twitter.com/Vqf8gyNDuR
— Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) June 24, 2026
But that’s not all. Sony actually went and changed the colors of the PlayStation App for mobile devices. The icon players download from the Apple App and Google Play stores now has the palm trees and sunset colors of GTA VI‘s Vice City in the background. Every time you open the app to access the PlayStation Store, share a clip, or check your trophies, you’ll be reminded that the biggest game launch of the year is just months away, as if anyone could have forgotten.
Sony has started updating its logos like the PlayStation App with GTA 6 branding#PS5 #GTA6 #GrandTheftAutoVI pic.twitter.com/dNknjOvw7P
— Shinobi602 (@shinobi602) June 24, 2026
Sony didn’t stop there either. When PS5 owners booted up their machines recently and went to the home media bar, they were greeted by an entire screen takeover animation. It begins with the “VI” from the game’s logo before shifting to art from the game for the background. Open the PlayStation Store and you immediately see the option to pre-order the game. Can you feel the hype and FOMO intensifying?
GTA 6 is now the first thing you see when you boot up your PS5, they made an entirely new UI for this, insane. pic.twitter.com/xmz8h6RLzI
— Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) June 24, 2026
“Sony are so locked into GTA I’ve never seen this kind of store support even for first parties,” quipped Larian’s head of publishing. “They’ve invented new shit to do! Making notes…”
Sony’s marketing deal with Rockstar Games was previously reported by Bloomberg, though the exact details haven’t been revealed. Sony gets a commission on every copy of GTA VI sold on its platform, as well as reaping the benefits of the install base growth from everyone who doesn’t yet own a PS5 but goes out to buy one just to play the new game. Given the seismic upside for both partners, it’s hard to know who exactly benefits more from different promotional beats. Deals like this could include Sony taking a smaller cut of each game sale (its standard rate is 30 percent) and promising a certain amount of platform marketing, like prime real estate on the PlayStation Store, media crossbar, and in upcoming PlayStation showcases.
What we do know is that not even exclusive first-party blockbusters like God of War and Spider-Man 2 have ever gotten this sort of red carpet rollout before. GTA VI could be the best-selling new game of the PS5 generation, and Sony is pulling out all of the stops to make people forget they can play it anywhere else. The Xbox account has a pinned tweet of its own pre-order page for the game. You could be forgiven for having missed it in all of the frenzy this week.
