Xbox has denied reports suggesting it had secured exclusive game streaming rights for Grand Theft Auto 6. The initial suggestion came from a report on The Verge, which cited an all-hands meeting in which CEO Asha Sharma allegedly told staff that Xbox planned to do something “no other platform holder is doing” around GTA 6.
The report stated that Xbox had acquired exclusive game streaming rights for GTA 6, which would allow anyone using Xbox’s Cloud Gaming service to stream GTA 6 on any supported platform, including PC where the game will not be available natively.
However, shortly after the report was published, Matthew Ball, Xbox’s chief strategy officer, spoke to “While the excitement around GTA 6 and Xbox has been great to see,” Ball said, “it has also led to some misinformation. We look forward to launching GTA 6 on Xbox on November 19, although the game will not be exclusively streamed or on PC.”
Nonetheless, Ball did not deny Xbox cloud streaming rights for GTA 6 on Xbox consoles in particular, which could be the subject of the deal. If that’s the case, an Xbox user will need to purchase a copy of GTA 6 and subscribe to Xbox Cloud Gaming to stream the game on – apparently – anything but a PC.
Xbox’s cloud streaming service has changed dramatically in recent months. Following Sharma’s appointment as CEO, the company capped the number of Cloud Gaming hours available to Game Pass members. After years of no limits, Game Pass users are now limited to just 15 hours per month at the highest tier, Ultimate, which would be a critical point where the streaming service ceases to be profitable for Microsoft.
In November, perhaps around the launch of GTA 6, Xbox is also launching Xbox Cloud Gaming as a standalone service that anyone can use without needing a Game Pass subscription. This paid model allows users to purchase chunks of game time to stream the games they own to supported devices.
Xbox is also exploring different business models around game streaming. The company is already testing a free, ad-supported Cloud Gaming tier with Xbox Insiders, and a November launch for that tier would make sense.
Beyond the Xbox portion of the report, Rockstar has not announced any GTA 6 streaming deals with any providers, although that could change as we get closer to the game’s November 19 release date.
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