After a decade-long wait, Rockstar Games has confirmed GTA 6 and fans will get a first look on November 5, 2023, at 9 am ET. According to the teaser image and various leaks, the game will be set in Vice City. Taking inspiration from real-world Miami, the game will occur in modern times.
With much excitement surrounding the title, confusion has found its way among the fans as well. GTA 6 will be a multi-platform title, however, Rockstar doesn’t follow a usual approach to this. For a long time, Rockstar has initially released a title on consoles before shipping them to PC. Usually, this wait lasts about one to two years, which appears to be unfair for PC players.
BREAKING NEWS
PLAYSTATION will have the marketing rights for GTA6 on PlayStation 5.Furthermore:The game will not be released simultaneously on PC/Consoles, leaving for PC 1 year later. PLAYSTATION is already thinking Bundle with PLAYSTATION 5 PRO #GTA6 https://t.co/BKIMNMXrx0— Alex Smith (@AlexSmitk) December 1, 2023
If we look at the releases of both GTA 5 and RDR 2, both these games were released on consoles exclusively. Later on, the titles were ported to the PC platform. These discrepancies between platforms create a lot of outrage among fans and have happened many times.
This is how powerful marketing rights are GTA 6 is still gonna be on other platforms but people keep assuming its a console exclusive.
— Duba (@Dubacavra) December 1, 2023
Even with many complaints from gamers, this type of release schedule has its advantages and some fans understand that. As seen with Baldur’s Gate 3 recently, Larian Studios released the title, platform by platform to give full focus on polishing the game after release. Thus instead of releasing the game on all platforms at once, this approach of release helps with stability more.
Nonetheless, following the release pattern for games from Rockstar, there are chances that GTA 6 will be released on PC after a long delay. On the brighter side, since the game had been largely anticipated and the wait time was too long, it could be released for all platforms together. However, the chances of that happening are fairly low as stability is the main priority for the studio.
Does Rockstar have an exclusivity deal with Sony for GTA 6?
No, Rockstar doesn’t specifically have any exclusive signing deal with Sony for releasing GTA 6 on their platform particularly. However, an exclusive right was signed between both parties for a title in 2007. This was likely the first Red Dead Redemption game which was released in 2010.
There has been a pattern for Rockstar to release their titles on consoles first. This makes players think that consoles have exclusive rights to their titles, but that’s not the case. Rockstar first released their titles on consoles as they are easier to develop on and use a single type of system configuration.
Amusing how widely the “Sony is buying Take-Two” rumor has spread, given that it originated from a single Twitter account. Some other tweets from the same account over the last year… pic.twitter.com/Y7R19UJUNB
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 7, 2023
In the case of PCs, many users have a variety of configurations which makes it difficult for developers. Since optimization is an issue for games, Rockstar likes to take their time before releasing a title on a specific platform. Gaming has seen what happens when games are rushed with examples like Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, Assassin’s Creed Unity, and more.
Now, there have been rumors regarding Sony taking over Take-Two Interactive (parent company of Rockstar). Which have proven to be false in multiple situations, yet a possibility remains. With Xbox acquiring Activision, Sony might think of hurting Microsoft’s pockets by making GTA titles exclusives for PlayStation only.