Xbox Head Rejects Claims of Exclusive GTA 6 PlayStation Preference

Xbox ’s Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball has hit back at claims that the company is worried about Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders on the platform.

- READ MORE: Loading Leonida: what we learned from the ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ Extended Look on Netflix

Earlier this week, video games journalist Tom Warren shared a report that claimed pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 are “heavily skewed” towards the PlayStation 5 which has “set off even more alarm bells” at Xbox, who recently confirmed a second wave of lay-offs and studio closures.

However Ball took to social media to dispute the claims. “Tom, we are very happy with Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders,” he wrote on X. “The title is breaking records for Xbox [and] we expect even more records will be broken throughout the fall. Our internal analysis shows our share of pre-orders to be matching our share of the console market.” He told other X users that the report was “ false ” and “ not true ”

Warren replied by asking Ball what Xbox’s share of the console market is, but Ball is yet to reply.

> what's your share of the console market? — Tom Warren (@tomwarren) September 24, 2026

“Hey Matt. Does your internal analysis show people upgrading/buying a current-generation console for Grand Theft Auto 6 at a 1:3 ratio versus the competitor, or is that changing,” asked fellow journalist Tom Henderson. “I thought it would be a given that you’re matching your console market share with your pre-order share, so it makes perfect sense why pre-orders are heavily skewed to the competition, but that doesn’t necessarily mean sources (developers) aren’t concerned, given everything going on.”

Grand Theft Auto 6 launches November 19 and, according to developers Rockstar Games, plays “best” on the PlayStation 5 . An enhanced version will also be released for the PlayStation 5 Pro, but exact details are still to be confirmed. Following the release of the Grand Theft Auto 6: Extended Look on Netflix at the start of the month, people are struggling to buy a PlayStation 5 Pro .

Yesterday (September 24) Rockstar Games announced details of a bumper collector’s edition of Grand Theft Auto 6 . ‘The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection’ features a number of limited-edition products and will set you back £349.99 but doesn’t include a copy of the game.

The post Xbox boss hits back at claims that everyone wants to play ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ on PlayStation appeared first on NME .

_Originally reported by [NME](https://www.nme.com/news/xbox-grand-theft-auto-6-pre-orders-playstation-debunk-rumours-3970778?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=xbox-grand-theft-auto-6-pre-orders-playstation-debunk-rumours)._