Xbox Exec Isn’t Freaking Out Over GTA 6 Presales

Grand Theft Auto 6 is under two months away, but the early sales numbers for the game are already starting to get out. According to a sales tracker posted by Sensor Tower, GTA 6’s PlayStation 5 presales are outnumbering Xbox Series X|S a ratio of more than 3:1. However, Xbox’s Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball has refuted a report that Microsoft is unhappy about those sales numbers.

In a message posted on X, Ball wrote, “We are very happy with GTA 6 pre-orders. The title is breaking records for Xbox, we expect even more records will be broken throughout the fall, and our internal analysis shows our share of pre-orders to be matching our share of the console market.”

Ball’s point about the preorders “matching [Xbox’s] share of the console market” may be correct. There are considerably more PlayStation 5 consoles on the market than Xbox Series X|S. According to Sensor Tower, Xbox’s 23% share of GTA 6 presales represents 1.3 million copies sold and $128 million in revenue. Conversely, PS5’s 77% means Sony has already sold 4.35 million copies to the tune of $426 million in revenue.

Some of the replies to Ball expressed skepticism about his response to the numbers. This comes only a few days after another devastating round of Xbox layoffs that left Halo Studios relinquishing control of the Halo franchise to Activision.

As for GTA 6, the game’s promotional push now includes a campaign in Miami, Florida welcoming visitors to Vice City. A number of gamers are apparently plotting to take time off from work when GTA 6 arrives, and we fully endorse that idea.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19.