Next week, Grand Theft Auto 6 – the most anticipated game in video game history – will finally launch. Thousands of people are expected to take the day off work just to play the game, but for some fans, the wait could be even longer.
While GTA 6 will launch on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on Thursday 19 November, Rockstar has yet to announce a release date for PC or the Nintendo Switch 2, leaving millions of gamers wondering when, or even if, they’ll get to return to Vice City on their chosen platform.
Take-Two, Rockstar Games’s parent company, has historically always prioritised the console experience over PC. In May, Take-Two’s boss Strauss Zelnick told Bloomberg that when he joined the company in 2007, PC sales accounted for just 5 per cent of the publisher’s basketball game – NBA 2K.
But while Zelnick said PC games can now account for as much as 45 to 50 per cent of sales for a big title, a much bigger proportion than ever before, GTA 6 still won’t be arriving on PC next week. “Rockstar always starts on console because I think with regard to a release like that you're judged by serving the core,” Zelnick said. “Like really serving the core consumer. If your core consumer isn't there, if they're not served first and best, you kind of don't hit your other consumers.”
Zelnick later admitted in an investor call in September that the PC market was becoming more important to Take-Two.
When will ‘GTA 6’ come to PC?
For now, we can only speculate. Red Dead Redemption 2 launched on PC 13 months after its console debut; GTA 5 took an enormous 19 months, and GTA 4 took just seven months.
But while its previous PC ports might have you believe GTA 6 won’t launch until late 2027 or early 2028, insiders have claimed it could arrive much sooner than that.
In October, video games publication GamesBeat reported that GTA 6 is scheduled to launch on PC in the first quarter of 2027, citing four industry sources familiar with Rockstar’s plans. If the rumours are to be believed, PC gamers could be playing GTA 6 as early as January – just two months after its console debut.
Of course, it’s worth taking the rumours with a pinch of salt until we get confirmation from Rockstar itself, but given Zelnick’s been hinting at just how important PC gaming has become to Take-Two, an earlier release wouldn’t be all that surprising.
When will ‘GTA 6’ come to Nintendo Switch 2?
There’s not been much clarity as to whether Rockstar will bring GTA 6 to the hybrid console.
In October, Variety asked Nintendo of America’s president Devon Pritchard whether GTA 6 would launch on the Nintendo Switch 2. “That’s going to be a conversation for Take-Two and Rockstar, but nothing to announce on my end at this time,” she told the publication.
Earlier this week, Zelnick was asked whether GTA 6 would be coming to other platforms, including the Nintendo Switch 2. He dodged the question, saying that the “information always comes from our labels”, meaning it was up to Rockstar to announce.
Rockstar has previously ported GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas to the Nintendo Switch with the Definitive Edition trilogy, but we’ve never seen GTA 4 or GTA 5 come to the platform.
Some are sceptical as to whether GTA 6 could even run on the Switch 2. Despite being Nintendo’s most powerful console ever, it’s still significantly less powerful than the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Jérémy Hartvick, a former Rockstar developer who worked on GTA 6, raised doubts in a now-deleted Kiwi Talkz podcast. “I don’t believe it even makes sense,” he told the podcast in September, questioning why Rockstar would want to deliver a “subpar experience” when gamers would likely just buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X to play the game anyway.
I wouldn’t call it a no, however. GTA 6 is also launching on the Xbox Series S, which is considerably less powerful than the PS5 and Xbox Series X. We now also have graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 running on the Nintendo Switch 2 as well.
Last year, reliable games insider NateTheHate also claimed Rockstar had been testing whether it could successfully bring GTA 6 to the Nintendo Switch 2, but noted that “tests don’t always equal release”. Either way, we’ll be watching closely.
Best GTA 6 pre-order deals
‘Grand Theft Auto 6’: Was £69.99, now £64.99, Argos.co.uk
Argos has slashed the physical copy of GTA 6 by £5 ahead of its launch next Thursday. If you pre-order the game today, you’ll receive a Vintage Vice City pack. It comes with a classic '55 Vapid Stanier sedan, Shore Court Garage, retro outfits and hairstyles for Jason and Lucia and a Tommy Vercetti-inspired weapon skin. You, of course, get a poster in the box too, but no disc.
For more, we’ve detailed everything you need to know about pre-loading the game
