Take Two, for some strange reason, do not launch games developed by Rockstar Games day one on PC platforms alongside their console counterparts. This has remained true for several games from the developer’s portfolio ranging from Grand Theft Auto 4 to Grand Theft Auto 5 and from Red Dead Redemption 1 to Red Dead Redemption 2. In fact, Take Two launched Red Dead Redemption 1 on PC last month after fourteen long years (you can read our review of the PC version here).
Unfortunately, this practice will continue in the case of Grand Theft Auto 6 with the publisher opting to launch it only on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5. The lack of a day one PC version release is disappointing for many PC gamers, especially in an age where almost every major AAA title launches on PC digital platforms day one and alongside their console counterparts.
In a recent earnings call, Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that the PC platform is important for them and developing support for it is not complicated.
“If one platform diminishes in value, there’s always another one. So, we’re seeing great growth in PC right now, for example. And I have been able to view that open formats would continue to grow. PC is an open format. I do think PC will continue to be a more and more important part of the console business going forward, and that isn’t complicated for us to support at all,” Zelnick stated.
“So, the bottom line is we are selective about which platforms we support,” he added.
To be clear, Zelnick’s statements reflect Take Two’s policy on PC releases in general and not specific to GTA 6. Obviously, they won’t abandon gaming’s biggest and largest platform but given the publisher’s erratic record with Rockstar’s PC releases in the last decade or so, it doesn’t inspire much confidence amongst GTA PC players.
A PC version of GTA 6 version will likely happen at some point but who knows when that will be. To give you a bit of history, Bully launched on consoles in October 2006 followed by a PC release, two years later, in 2008. Grand Theft Auto 4 released PS3 and Xbox 360 in April of 2008. The PC version saw release a few months later in December. Grand Theft Auto 5‘s initial release was back in September 2013 followed by a PC release almost two years later in April 2015. Rockstar’s most recent game, Red Dead Redemption 2 launched on PS4 and Xbox One in October 2018 followed by a PC release in 2019. Games like Midnight Club: Los Angeles didn’t even saw a PC version released.
It’s clear that in the case of Rockstar and their games, a PC version is not a priority for Take Two. However, in case of its other labels, players can expect Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country to launch day one on PC.
Grand Theft Auto 6 launches in Fall of 2025.