Xbox has publicly pushed back on a claim that Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are heavily tilted toward PlayStation 5. The company hasn’t flatly denied the numbers, but it did put out an official statement saying it is “very happy” with how the game is selling on its platform.
What the report claimed
On September 24, a report on the state of Xbox argued that the company’s immediate future doesn’t look much brighter than its recent past, and noted that GTA 6 pre-orders are currently “heavily skewed” toward PlayStation 5. That claim landed at an awkward moment. Just two days earlier, on September 22, Xbox announced its second wave of major 2026 layoffs, confirming that 268 employees across its first-party studios would lose their jobs. Halo Studios and World’s Edge were reportedly hit hard, with both Halo and Age of Empires moved under Activision’s remit.
Xbox’s official answer
Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball responded publicly, saying the company is “very happy with GTA VI pre-orders.” According to Ball, the game is “breaking records” on the platform, and Xbox expects “even more records” to fall over the course of the fall. He closed by saying that, based on the company’s internal analysis, GTA 6 pre-orders are “matching [Xbox’s] share of the console market.”
Why that statement isn’t the whole picture
On paper it reads like good news. The catch is the phrase “share of the console market,” because that share is the whole argument. As of last November, PlayStation 5 had sold 84.2 million units, while Xbox Series X and Series S together had moved a little over 34 million. If those sales curves have continued as expected, Xbox’s slice of the market is by default far smaller than Sony’s – which means a pre-order split that merely “matches” market share would still line up with the claim that GTA 6 is being pre-ordered far more on PS5.
In other words, both things can be true at once: Xbox can be setting internal pre-order records while PlayStation still sells several times more copies. If you’re tracking every twist around Rockstar’s launch, we keep all of it in one place in our GTA news section.
Sony’s marketing muscle
Market share aside, Sony has simply been louder in the opening marketing push. The PlayStation owner locked in an exclusive marketing deal that has already turned the PlayStation Store and app into a GTA 6 showcase. Sony is also putting out a set of limited-edition Grand Theft Auto 6 DualSense controllers, shipping alongside the game on November 19. Xbox has no comparable hardware tie-in announced.
What it means for you
- Nothing about the game itself changes – GTA 6 is still coming to both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19.
- Pre-ordering on Xbox isn’t at risk; the debate is about volume, not availability.
- Platform-exclusive extras so far point to PlayStation, mainly through the DualSense controllers and store takeover.
- If you’re waiting on a PC version, that’s a separate conversation – Take-Two’s CEO has already commented on GTA 6 on PC.
For more context on what you’ll actually get on day one, we’ve covered Rockstar’s stance on the online mode as well as the official collector’s box.
FAQ
No. Xbox never directly denied the claim. It said it is “very happy” with pre-orders and that the game is breaking records on its platform, while noting that pre-orders match its share of the console market.
Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball responded publicly to the report.
As of last November, PlayStation 5 had sold 84.2 million units, while Xbox Series X and Series S had sold a combined total of just over 34 million.
Sony secured an exclusive marketing deal and is releasing limited-edition Grand Theft Auto 6 DualSense controllers alongside the game on November 19. No exclusive gameplay content was mentioned.
On September 22, Xbox confirmed a second wave of major 2026 layoffs affecting 268 employees across its first-party studios, reportedly hitting Halo Studios and World’s Edge, with Halo and Age of Empires moved under Activision’s remit.