By Fletcher Wilkinson 
Xbox says GTA 6 pre-orders are breaking records on the platform, following a report that reservations for Rockstar’s highly anticipated game are heavily skewed towards PS5.
Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball responded to The Verge’s Tom Warren on social media, saying the company is “very happy” with pre-orders so far. Ball also said Xbox’s internal analysis shows its share of GTA 6 pre-orders is matching its share of the console market.
The report from The Verge described GTA 6 pre-orders as heavily skewed towards PS5, framing the figures as another concern for Xbox amid a period of major changes for the gaming division.
Ball’s response focused on Xbox’s performance in relation to its share of the console market. He said GTA 6 is breaking records for Xbox and predicted that more records would be broken throughout the autumn.
However, Ball did not provide specific pre-order numbers or a breakdown between Xbox and PlayStation. His comments therefore don’t establish which console has more pre-orders overall; they explain why Xbox considers its own share to be performing well.
There were additional comments made by Ball dispelling rumours from other outlets that were also trying to run with the article that was published by The Verge. You can see his response below to CharlieINTEL over on X:
The two statements can both be true: PS5 may have more GTA 6 pre-orders in total, while Xbox’s share still matches its proportion of the console market. Ball’s comments push back on the idea that the reported split necessarily means Xbox is underperforming.
With no figures released, the exact difference between pre-orders on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 remains unclear. For now, Xbox’s position is that GTA 6 is setting records on its platform even as attention turns to how the game’s pre-orders are divided between consoles.
What do you think about all of this? Let us know in the comments below!
Paula Beaton