Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced a 10-year strategic partnership with Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games' parent company. Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, with cloud gaming access on Xbox One through day one.
Sharma stated the cloud availability represents "the first step" in the partnership. The Verge's Tom Warren reported the deal extends beyond cloud gaming alone, noting that "a new long-term Xbox publisher license agreement" covers more than just cloud access. Warren did not specify what those additional terms include.
GTA 6 is already the most pre-ordered game on Microsoft Store. Players on Xbox One who purchase through Microsoft's store can access it via cloud gaming, though PC access remains unavailable pending an official Rockstar port announcement.
Analytics firm Sensor Tower estimates GTA 6 pre-orders have generated $1 billion in sales from over 7.5 million copies across platforms, with PS5 accounting for 75 percent of sales and Xbox 25 percent. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said the title has been "running far in excess of our expectations" but declined to release official pre-order figures, stating the company does not want to "claim success before it occurs."