GTA 6 is likely to skip PC again and only launching on current gen consoles
GTA VI Confirmed Next-Gen Only, Skipping PC At Launch
I'm confused why Kotaku mentioning next gen in the title when Rockstar only commented on current generation PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
The PC version will come out with the PS6/Xbox whatever ports come out. Rockstar has figured out exactly how to milk the most sales out of their games
With GTAV, the original release was 2013, the next gen was 2014 and PC 2015 so I forsee it being the same and being even later.
The upside was that the PC port was really good at release and I'm pretty indifferent to if I pick this game up in 2030 when it's actually a good value on PC.
Yeah I'll take a delayed PC port over a broken one. It sucks but I'd rather wait
Not just sales. Rockstar is getting paid to launch exclusively on consoles.
Unless it's either PS5 or Xbox exclusive (not both), I don't think that's true. Sony and Microsoft wouldn't collude to prevent launch on PC. That's extremely illegal, even for companies that are masters of dodging antitrust laws.
The most realistic explanation (IMO) is that Rockstar did their research and found that most PC players also own a console, and will very likely buy the game twice in the long run.
Or if we're being charitable, maybe the game needs more optimization work before it can run well on the Steam deck, and they want that working before launching on PC.
By both consoles? How would that make any sense?
According to the Microsoft leaks, that would be 2028.
I'll wait anyway. And I'm most definitly not gonna preorder after the mega fail that was the GTA Trillogy.
Personally, I might be done with the series at this point.
Did they not just put a lot of the vehicles behind a paywall in GTA V this year? If you previously had them, you were fine. You would be SOL if you didn't buy them in the game before the update, though. IIRC some of cars were even stuck behind the GTA+ subscription.
I don't want to buy a game, and then have to buy some of the exact same content again years later. They should have also told people that they would be paywalling the cars a decent amount of time before they went through with it, imo.
It's not the end of the world or anything, but I'm concerned that this might be an attempt at starting a new type of profiting. This is worse than the horse armour from Oblivion. At least that gave you new models and textures.
"We'll just sell them a game, then we'll sell them the same assets in the same game years later!"
Just wait until it spreads to more game companies. I wish that there was a stronger push back when it happened. People are going to completely forget about it until it happens again.
With their current track record, maybe I'll buy it after a decade haha
GTA trilogy wasn't developed by rockstar iirc. That being said, pre-ordering games is a dumb move anyway since games aren't finished when they are being released nowadays
And it's almost like they cant run out of binary code + a license key to distribute.
And the preload period is stupid anyway since you will most likely need a day 1 patch anyway.
I think I got GTA5 for 5 bucks. I think I'll wait for GTA6 for 6 bucks
Lol this is how I do everything now. Starfield looked okay, but I won't touch it unless it goes below $30. I do not feel like I'm missing absolutely anything.
I got it for free from Epic.
With that being said, I did purchase it for Xbox one when it first launched.
Getting it for free on Epic was how I played it. And honestly, it’s a fine game, but from the time it came out to when I got it, so many good open world games had come and gone it maybe didn’t land for me as well as it might have ten years ago.
GTA V didn't first launch on Xbox One, it launched on the 360.
Damn that 20% inflation
I’ll never be able to afford GTA 100.
You'll also be quite dead before that ever happens, especially at the rate they're releasing them now
As someone who games solely on pc nowaday simply because having other things to do, I don't mind waiting even more so the chance I will get it on launch day is null.
Remember fellas vote with your wallet, do not get blinded by hypetrain.
Vote with your wallet. This shit right here dawg. That saying has lost its weight for some reason. Given there are a lot of ways that can be difficult or even impossible, but it's still our best hope next to pitch forks and torches.
Yep. I never buy on launch. Just wait a few months and the price comes down, especially if near a holiday you’ll get a sale. Also the bitchfest about the game bEiNg LiTeRaLly UnpLaYAblE!!1!1 because of problems has died down after a few patches.
I'm blinded by the hype train, but with 2 kids and sole income my wallets to empty to pay for an 80$ game on release.
I’m not buying a console for this game. Pc gaming has gotten a lot bigger, I’d be surprised if they skipped it.
And unlike when GTA5 came out, now the XBox and PlayStation have the same CPU architecture as PC.
Still I wont be surprised since they've delayed PC since GTA3, but its still annoying
Yeah RDR2 was released on PC later even though PS4 and XBO were thr same architecture so I am not hopeful.
it's not necessarily the architecture that's the problem it's just optimizations as you only have set hardware to optimize for on console as compared to pc
In the past first party exclusives were the incentive for me to get a console regardless of Rockstar titles, and they just don't have the draw they used to with them getting ported to the PC so I'm passing on console this Gen. So can't even double dip like they want me too because I wouldn't drop hundreds to play one game.
Almost every AAA release has pulled the same trick for at least the last 10 years if not longer. Don't announce the PC release until after the console release, that way some people buy the game twice.
Naturally. Rockstar likes to resell their titles no less than Bethesda. They will sell it to you on PS5 and series x/s, then again on PS6 and whatever Xbox will be around. Then probably Nintendo platform, finally PC.
This way they maximize the amount of times some people will buy the same game, each time with minimal quality upgrade.
Same as their previous titles. It's not that they didn't learn. They have the numbers and know very well what they're doing.
imo buying a copy for one platform should entitle to play on every platform it is released on. The crucial aspects of the work are the same. adapting to different hardwares and making controls for gamepads and mouse and keyboard only plays a small part in the total effort. Also you can play with a controller on pc in most cross platform games.
As much as I theoretically agree, I can immediately think of two problems:
It's against their own interest to do this. Imagine you buy all your games on Steam because of the sales (although the creators of the game of course decide the prices, but still) and then play them on your Xbox. No profit at all for Microsoft, yet they're the ones providing all the additional services like the actual game hosting, friends system, etc. It's not much by any means, but it does add up. The money all goes to Valve. You could even buy the games via the Steam mobile app if you don't even own a PC. Also, even if they were theoretically fine with this, even coordinating it would be a pain. Since you could put a game on the Google Play Store, the App Store, hell maybe even F-Droid, Epic Games, GoG, Steam, the Xbox Store, and the Play Station store, and I am absolutely certain I forgot multiple other options, all of them would need to be able to communicate and decide on if you actually own the game. This would be a logistical and technical nightmare.
You know how for example Undertale has a slightly special Nintendo Switch version where there's... I can't even remember, but I think it's an additional boss. That's just something small and cute, but let's go with the GTA example. I have played about five hours of 5 and dropped it, so excuse me if this isn't the best theoretical example, but let's say the PS5 and Series X/S get the base game. Then the PS6 and new Xbox get maybe five additional cars and the game they're selling is GTA 6 Expanded. Afterwards on switch (although by that time Nintendo's new console would've released) you get blue and red weapon skins or whatever and it's GTA 6 Switched Up. And then finally on PC you get the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition with expanded settings, better graphics, and maybe five more cars on top of those from GTA 6 Expanded. These are all technically not the same game, so you would not be able to claim them. Sure, you could argue they're similar, but where is the exact line? That's quite impossible to figure out - is it a cheated rehash or a mediocre remaster? Who knows
Also you can play with a controller on pc in most cross platform games.
Yeah, but why would you want to? If you're going to play with a controller, why not just play on console?
When I buy a new set of tires for my truck, I don't get a free set of tires for my car as well.
And pc always last because they can only sell it to them once and they'll have it until steam/epic dies.
This is stupid because they literally developed the damn game on PC. The only reason to do a console priority release is artificial scarcity. They know a certain subset of PC gamers will buy the game twice. Once on console for FOMO. And again on PC for the proper experience.
suspect pc is last priority due to the higher rate of piracy and lower rate of in-app-purchases. oh and the mod scene - for some reason rock* doesn't want people extending the lives of their products even for single player play. weeeeeak.
Console gamers will buy the game on each following generation console as well for the next couple decades and when I'm on my death bed we will get a release announcement for the trailer of GTA 7 for PS? and Xbox xXx series xXx ex/se
As much as I understand the disappointment, from development point I tolerate them as Rockstar ever since they had their own in house Game Engine, they does not shoehorn the game into a mess of unplayablility (see common AAA studios). Not to mention those jack of all trade engine (e.g UE, Unity, CryEngine) while you can make the project multiplatform, the optimization that need to be done is far more time consuming (reading the docs of the SDK) compared to an Engine you build your own, an example of this on recent release is Yakuza Ishin, Ishin use Unreal Engine and run worse compared to every Yakuza games they released prior (which they did use their in-house game Engine).
Rockstar made it clear focus on to deliver console optimization on front ever since GTA III released (technical standpoint see GTA San Andreas on PS2, GTA V on PS3 and X360, Max Payne 3 on console).
Even though from PS4/XONE we have x86 arch console, the uniformity of console specs leads the easy to work on optimization rather than plethora of hardwares that available on Personal Computer space.
Maybe I am sounded defending Rockstar but I gave my opinion from my past experience as game modder so knowing those SDK a bit. If you want to blame, you can blame the higher up on T2 since those parties the one tied up the Rockstar (R* owned by T2). I do have a share of disappointment when they took down the Reverse Engineered code of 3D era gta codes, but that incident also have grey area as some says that some portion of the code are part of original code.
Thanks for the drop of sanity here. There are reasons this happens and this right here is why. Console is ready faster...that's it. Rockstar is just making the natural business decisions given the situation. Does Rockstar also get that double dip? Yes. Do they get incentives from the various console companies vying for exclusivity? Yes. Villainize that all you want but the other option is choosing to not make money on a finished game by making it unavailable for literally no reason.
Inversely, for those complaining, demanding Rockstar to not release a finished game on any platform until it is available on the device you prefer sounds pretty stupid.
Well, that's shitty. I'll never understand why some of these companies are so dated in their thinking.
Money
Less QA work needed upfront, with the added benefit of selling the game twice to a lot of people when PC finally releases.
It's not dated thinking, it's profit focused.
Because they know most PC gamers have at least one console as well, and they'll buy it on release at full price, and then again on PC for the better gaming experience.
Cause idiots literally go out and buy a console , then get the game there, then get it again on their PC in 18 months and literally foam at the mouth all the while.
Remember these publishers are in an ouroboros style circle jerk with console makers. They move without giving a tug, and never move without getting a tug. They go console exclusive to boost console sales in the first year, use that time to continue to improve the half baked game, then release on PC with higher specs to reap the PC fans marveling at the higher graphics.
The continued use of Next Gen for what is definitely the current console generation does make me pretty annoyed
They’ve done it with every generation of GTA recently. It will probably not come out at launch, people will buy the console version, and then suddenly it comes out on pc a year later. We’ve seen the tactic before
Capcom cuntrags get me with monster hunter every time... They do the same bullshit and I hate it.
I got bullied into buying World on release, and then another time on PC :|
GTA V was 2 years later and it even came out after the next-gen release. But I waited patiently, I skipped any spoilers for 2 years and it was well worth it. Also, GTA has such a long lifespan that the wait really doesn't matter
RDR2 with almost 2 years.
I can wait. Still have plenty of backlog.
Or I could play GTA5 and try to reach 1.5k playtime of loading screen :p
PC is always current gen. When will they learn?
PS is always "millions of iterations of current, next, last, the previous, the one before that and the one after that" gen. I believe they have learned.
they did a long time ago the game will be online only without a story
Honestly I do understand why PC gamers are upset. But this isn’t exactly news. They’ve done this with every PC port. And given the clusterfuck that was GTA IV on PC I’m fine waiting another year for a GOOD PC port.
Again I get it. But I personally bought a Series X when PC gaming was too expensive to get into so I take it that’s who they’re gonna go for as well.
I bet its because console players are far more likely to dump their life savings into Shark Cards 2.0 in massive fits of hysterical FOMO, than PC players are.
Is this type of comment helpful for you? Are people supposed to follow-up with some comment about PC players are sheep and will be buy the game for consoles and then buy it PC when it releases there?
This platform war nonsense is tiring.
Lol, every pc gamer I've ever encountered has to have the latest video card due to FOMO. The thought of only getting 59 FPS keeps them up at night, keeps them from playing the games they've already paid for.
Why would you buy GTA 6 after 5 became a live service game? Fuck rockstar.
I mean, if the single player is still good, which 5's was too imo
Support bullshit and you'll eventually get what you supported.
When GTA loses its single player or riddles it with more mtx and live service crap, you'll only have yourself to blame for continuing to buy their crap.
I am afraid they will make the whole game subscription based. You won't even be allowed to own the single player experience
GTA V’s single player was worth $60 even if it never got any DLC. I don’t touch GTA online.
If it hadn't been for reddit, I wouldn't have been aware that there was an online mode.
The amount of work and passion Rockstar brings into their single player experiences is by far worth the money. Bethesda needs to take a lesson from them.
Yes, they milk the multiplayer online experience for as much as they can get, but they are still working on new games in the meantime.
honestly not a lot of people care game is still fun
Likely? It's almost a certified R* moment to forget about PC for 1-2 years and then release the (better) version there later on.
They know they can play on some people's (poor) patience and double-dip getting people to cave in, get it on console, and then on PC a couple of years later.
Cool. Then I'll pirate it at lauch.
Hope it will be good, the game will have to last 3 console generations anyway.
I'm waiting for the PS7 release.
Oh no
Anyway
I think the bigger issue is that the franchise is stuck in the USA, at the same locations, in the same gangsta American dream plot. I was hoping by they would branch out as there as so many other interesting places outside of the USA that are car focused that are dying to be explored. When I watched the trailer, I felt like I already played this game.
GTA is satire about American society. Because of Hollywood, TV, and English being the lingua franca of the world, this way they can reach a far bigger audience. You couldn't do exactly the same game set in Helsinki because the world knows far less about Finnish stereotypes. Ninja Edit: Random thought about satirical games set in Finland: My Summer Car is kind of that game.
But they have explored London before. I think the UK would probably the best setting if you would.
I agree, London would be awesome. Anyone ever play The Getaway back on PS2? I genuinely enjoyed that game a lot. GTA but with cockney accents/Guy Richie, the game.
London is the only city from their game history they haven't revisited. Granted, it is the only real location they have used so likely that is a big reason they never will. But a UK-based game would be awesome.
I don't think anyone with more than 5 braincells thought this was coming out on PS4 and Xbone.
Welllll...It's T2 we are talking about.
Can't wait for an extremely polished game where it's impossible to step one step in the direction you want to go.
Now imagine people wrote an article every time a game came out on PC but not consoles.
some game matters more than others
Only in personal opinions. Some people only play EVE or flight simulator
PC is typically easier to develop for because of the lack of strict (and frequently silly) platform requirements. Which typically makes game development more expensive and slow than it needs to be when just targeting PC. If that barrier to entry was reduced to that of PC, you'd see a lot more games on there from smaller developers.
With current gen consoles, pretty much every game starts as a PC game already, because thats where the development and testing happens.
Rockstar here is the exception in that they are intentionally skipping PC - something that should be well within reach of a company their size while clearly being capable of doing so.
If another AAA game comes out with only PC support I'll be right there with you - but most game developers with the capability release for all major platforms now. But not the small console indie studio called Rockstar Games it seems.
Eh they'll make a PC version at some point
Exactly. Maybe in only 10 years, who knows?
Wouldn't mind tbh. There's no shortage of great games to play, and GTA was never story driven so there's no need to worry about spoilers.
Who cares? Rockstar is a joke. Play it years from now, it'll be carried for 10+ years
I know when the PS5/Xbox Series X/S came out they were referred to as "next generation" while the previous consoles were "current generation" when talking about games that were released on both consoles, for example NBA 2K.
I can see why you're confused and I agree that enough time has passed that we can start calling the PS5/ Xbox series X/S current generation.
I think that calling them next gen was okay up to the point that they became readily available.
Mark my words as the real JC Denton, this game will be bad
Except for the online.
That will be bad and full of microtransactions
I'm sure they spent the last ten years figuring out how to put mtx into gta singleplayer. It wouldn't be that hard.
Yeah if I ever were to play this game, it'd probably be a long time after release and the inevitable slew of bug fixes etc
Honestly, based on current gaming trends, I'm fine either way. Everything is releasing in an almost important state for the first 6 months to a year anyway.
Reasons I never buy any of their games.
I'm confused why Kotaku mentioning next gen in the title when Rockstar only commented on current generation PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Haven't they been calling these the "next Gen" consoles for awhile? I also don't agree with changing the title to not match the article.
The original title sucks and doesn't deserve to be repeated.
Yeah, it's been a while so it's time to drop it. I don't think you can even buy a new ps4 at a major retailer anymore even.
Looks very Florida.
Almost as if Vice City is based on a very large city in Florida.
I've never played any of the GTA games I was considering this one but it's not at the top of my list especially now
PC releasing at the same time might just rob consoles of sales they could have. While I don't support what they do, this is what I think the most logical reason
In my view this is short sighted. A game with this many systems in it may actually need time to be decently optimised for keyboard and mouse inputs. When GTAV finally released it also carried a bunch of improvements. R* doesn't want to sell games consoles. They don't make any.
It needs to be "optimized" for controller input in exactly the same way. They could've chosen to budget for this "optimization" (whatever that even means) pre-launch.
I think the most likely explanations are 1) larger player base on consoles, 2) Rockstar wants to get the release cash injection ASAP, and 3) staggering platform releases like this prolongs buzz and even leads to a bunch of people buying the game twice.
YO-HO, YO-HO
Whatever I still haven't played 5 🤷♀️
It has a fantastic Single Player story line that is fairly worth the play through even today. I think I tried the online game mode once and didnt see a point. My experience is with the PS3 launch version, but I'm assuming you can still just play it offline for story. Please let me know if I'm wrong.
Here's to hoping this game doesn't make you feel like you're walking drunk. I would have played Grand theft Auto v if the movement didn't feel clunky
93A1A71EABD6B6CD658458CC1F4
If there were physics in GTA V then they were portrayed very poorly
yeah movement sucks ass in gtav (it's fine while aiming tho)
It looks pretty mid anyway, unless they announce dedi servers and rp support I really don't care about rockstars played out boomer ass writing
I just can't get excited for gta anymore. I know some people are very excited and can't wait, but can they keep the train going for two years (or probably 4)
I'm actually ok with this. It will keep online hacker free for at least a year.
So? Who gives a shit lol
Is there PC gamers who don't own consoles??
Why would I pay $600 to play the same games but worse
My most recent non-handeld was an xbox 360 from before I got into computers. Why would I buy a console if I already have something to play games on?
So? I play on console anyway.
Maybe by skipping PC, the loading will be nice and fast. Actually take advantage of superior console tech.
This was the first entry I was actually excited about!
But Rockstar once again hates PC gamers...
Seriously.. sexy ladies in a modern AAA games.. no "stoic flat chested tomboys"
My jaw dropped when I saw that shit
Yes please. Tired of that woke shit
your hands are tired for jerking off at that woke shit huh? Need a break cause the sores are too much to bear?
JFK get ahold of yourself. Its fucking Rockstar. Like its not going to have Tits and Ass everywhere. Did you even fucking watch the preview video?
I did, and I think you misunderstand, I am glad that it had tits and ass everywhere, Rockstar aren't the rock stars they used to be. Did you see that Grand Theft Auto remastered?
I am actually glad Grand Theft Auto VI has decided that women are allowed to look feminine, what a novel fucking concept am I right? Female characters looking like they're actually female.
Yes I understand that it's a cartoon exaggeration of what a woman looks like, I don't care, Grand Theft Auto is supposed to be a violent cartoon, let it be one. Fuck
Too many games exist to be played in one lifetime now, who gives a shit, the series stopped being good after GTA 2 anyway
The fuck?
Gta is still kind of a great game. But i wouldn't touch it with a stick because of the people playing it. I swear dota is a jolly old time compared to playing some gta online. So i could not care less about the game anyway.
lol pick the worst of all of them
What? GTA 1 and 2 are terrible.
What? Those games were fun for their time
Suckmyrocket
Terribly awesome!!
Because they're still referring to PS5 and XSX as "next gen", which is ridiculous this far into a generation. I'm glad even their own commenters are calling that out.
It almost seems like a bait and I fell for it 🫣
The only reason I clicked on the article is because I thought next gen launching late 2025 with GTA6. Ps5 came out over 3 years ago so 4 year generation sounds about right.
It's not the first time either. Time to pop Kotaku into the block list.
The last few console generations have been around 6-7 years, and this gen may be longer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_video_game_console_generations#Console_generation_overview
4 years is the typical halfway upgrade, not a new gen. Gens are usually 7-8 years.
They should switch to pokemon gen naming scheme aka 5th gen consoles.
Not at all, there is no PS6 or... whatever Microsoft decides to call the next Xbox