In a recent report, it’s been claimed that Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-order numbers are far higher on PlayStation 5 than Xbox Series X/S. While Xbox hasn’t outright denied the claim, it has issued an official statement that says the company is “very happy” with Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders on its platform.
Xbox found itself back on the front-page of most outlets last week, once again for all the wrong reasons. On September 22, Xbox announced its second wave of major 2026 layoffs, confirming that 268 employees across its first-party studios would be losing their jobs. This latest round of cuts reportedly greatly impacted Halo Studios and World’s Edge, with both Halo and Age of Empires having been moved to Activision’s remit. But that was just one of several headlines that painted Xbox in a negative light last week.
Xbox Is ‘Very Happy’ With GTA 6 Pre-Orders Despite Recent Report
On September 24, The Verge’s Tom Warren published a report titled ‘The Xbox reset gets ugly.’ The bulk of this newsletter focused on the recent round of layoffs that have affected many Xbox first-party studios and what it all means for the future of Xbox. Warren suggested that the immediate future isn’t looking much brighter, and pointed out that Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are reportedly “heavily skewed” towards PlayStation5 right now.
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Image via Rockstar Games -
Image via Rockstar Games -
Image via Rockstar Games
Warren shared his Verge report on Twitter, where it received an official public response from Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball. Ball’s statement directly addresses Warren before stating that Xbox is “very happy with GTA VI pre-orders.” According to Ball, GTA 6 is “breaking records” for the platform, and the company expects that “even more records” will be broken throughout the fall. Ball’s statement ends with the confirmation that GTA 6 pre-orders are “matching [Xbox’s] share of the console market,” according to the company’s internal analysis.
On paper, this all sounds like good news for Xbox, but Ball’s statement might not be telling the full story. While GTA 6 may be matching Xbox’s share of the console market, it’s unclear what that share currently is. The PlayStation 5 sold 84.2 million units as of last November, while the Xbox Series X and S had sold a combined total of just over 34 million. If the trajectory of these console sales have continued as expected, then Xbox’s share of the market would be significantly less than PlayStation’s by default, meaning that The Verge’s claim that GTA 6 has been pre-ordered far more on PS5 than Xbox Series X/S would likely be true.
Regardless of market share, Sony has also had a much stronger presence in Grand Theft Auto 6‘s initial marketing push, with the PlayStation owner securing an exclusive marketing deal that’s already seen GTA 6 take over the PlayStation Store and app. Sony is also releasing a set of limited-edition Grand Theft Auto 6 DualSense controllers which are set to ship alongside the game on November 19.
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+