By Paula Beaton At yesterday’s Xbox town hall, CEO Asha Sharma teased that Microsoft would be doing something “no other platform holder is doing” for Grand Theft Auto VI.
As reported by The Verge and according to sources close to Microsoft, this supposedly relates to a deal Microsoft has made for game streaming rights, which would allow players to stream GTA VI via Xbox Cloud Gaming at launch.
There’s no word on how long the agreement could be in place.
For Microsoft, a streaming deal ordinarily means that it can market its Xbox Cloud Gaming service to PC players, but since Rockstar hasn’t announced a PC version of Grand Theft Auto VI yet, that seems unlikely.
A post on X by Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball revealed that Microsoft won’t be streaming GTA VI exclusively, or to PCs. Ball neither denied nor confirmed claims that the game would be available via Xbox Cloud Gaming at launch.
The rumored cloud streaming launch for Grand Theft Auto VI comes following news of major changes to Xbox Cloud Gaming. From next month, players can subscribe to the service via a standalone pay-as-you-go option, allowing them to pay for a bundle of hours. However, Xbox Game Pass subscribers will also see their Cloud Gaming limits reduced, to five hours per month on the Essential tier, 10 hours per month on the Premium tier, and 15 hours per month on the Ultimate tier.
Since Xbox hasn’t yet confirmed the availability of GTA VI via its Cloud Gaming service — and has not revealed any specifics, it’s best to take this news with a pinch of salt, until we hear more. Stay tuned for all the latest updates on this!