You don’t hit 190+ million sales by simultaneously releasing a game on every platform. Both GTA V and Red Dead Redemption were released first on Xbox/PlayStation before eventually coming to PC. Here’s a quick timeline of both releases:
GTA V:
First released on September 17, 2013 on PS3, Xbox 360
Xbox One / PS4 versions released on November 18, 2014
PC version released on April 14, 2015
PS5 / Xbox Series versions released on March 15, 2022
Red Dead Redemption 2:
First released on PlayStation 4 / Xbox One on October 26, 2018
PC version released on November 5, 2019
Based on Rockstar’s past, we’re likely looking at 12 months (or longer) before GTA VI hits PC.
Let’s assume GTA VI is targeting a March 2025 release date for GTA VI, which would still put it within Take Two’s fiscal 2025 earnings (guidance from Take-Two shows a big jump in sales for fiscal 2025 that most believe only GTA VI could deliver).
If Rockstar followed a similar release window for the PC version from their previous two games, that would put a PC release in April 2026 at the earliest and holiday 2026 at the latest.
But I wonder how Rockstar’s recent acquisition of Cfx.re, the team behind popular role-playing communities FiveM and RedM, might shorten the release between console and PC.
Roleplay servers have given GTA V even more legs, especially on PC. It has helped give GTA V a huge boost on Twitch, where it still sits as one of the most-watched games on the streaming service. It’ll be interesting to see if Rockstar integrates roleplaying features in these custom servers directly into GTA VI. And if they do, will they also be available on the console versions?
Rockstar knows they can snag multiple sales for their games. GTA fans will not wait six months or a year for the game to hit PC before playing it for the first time. And folks who own consoles and PCs will double-dip for better graphics and frame rate once the PC version drops.
This staggered release was to be expected based on Rockstar’s past. The question will now be how long it will take for the PC version to land. I’m leaning towards a shorter gap between versions, six to eight months.
