Xbox has secured exclusive GTA 6 streaming rights
Microsoft has secured exclusive streaming rights for Grand Theft Auto VI, according to people familiar with the company's plans. Xbox will be the only platform whose cloud service can stream GTA VI at launch, though the duration of the exclusivity was not disclosed.
Why It Matters
An exclusivity deal for streaming the next Grand Theft Auto could shift where players access the game at launch and gives Microsoft a potential marketing advantage for Xbox Cloud Gaming, especially on PCs and mobile devices where console ownership is not required.
Key Facts
- Source: The Verge (Tom Warren)
- Announcement forum: Xbox all-hands meeting
- Microsoft executive: Xbox CEO Asha Sharma
- Exclusivity detail: Xbox Cloud Gaming will be the only platform allowed to stream GTA VI at launch
- Unknown detail: Length of the streaming exclusivity was not disclosed
At an internal Xbox all-hands, CEO Asha Sharma hinted that Microsoft planned to do something around Grand Theft Auto VI that other platform holders were not doing. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s intentions told The Verge that the comment referred to a deal giving Xbox exclusive rights to stream GTA VI at launch via its Xbox Cloud Gaming service.
Under the arrangement, only Xbox Cloud Gaming users will be able to stream GTA VI when the game launches. The reporting notes Rockstar Games has not announced a PC version of GTA VI, and Microsoft’s arrangement would let the company promote cloud streaming to PC players who otherwise would need a console to play at launch.
The exclusive streaming news arrives as Microsoft is changing Xbox Cloud Gaming access and limits. From November, the company will introduce hourly caps for streaming tied to Game Pass tiers — 15 hours for Game Pass Ultimate, 10 hours for Premium, and 5 hours for Essential — while also launching a pay-as-you-go option that lets customers buy bundles of streaming hours without a subscription.
Sharma also used the all-hands to comment on Project Helix, describing Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox hardware as a “family of devices” and saying the company will partner with others on some members of that family. Microsoft and AMD have an existing multi-year partnership to work on a portfolio of devices including the next Xbox console, an initiative Sharma referenced in a recent interview.
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