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One of the most highly anticipated games of next year is Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6). Rockstar Games has recently announced a process for Xbox Series X|S users to claim their copy of the game. Notably, this opportunity will be available on June 25, 2025, approximately a month after the game's initial launch on PlayStation consoles in May.
The store has recently unveiled GTA 6’s second trailer, dated May 6, 2025, along with eight high-resolution screenshots and a brief game synopsis. As expected, the series buy button is inactive (not currently available), indicating that pre-ordering has yet to be launched.
Wishlist Feature: Xbox gamers go and type ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ in the Microsoft Store, either through console, mobile app, or PC, and tap on the heart icon to add it to the wishlist. This ensures that you will be among the first to get the pre-order notification.
The Xbox systems have something quite peculiar in store for gamers: They can immediately download a very small 328.76 MB placeholder file. Naturally, it isn’t playable; upon trying to launch, cover art appears, then disappears.
Yet, it holds space on your console for the full game to auto-download shortly before launch. On PlayStation, passing through placeholder pre-loads commonly unlocks around midnight in local time zones, and it is strongly believed that Xbox will similarly do so.
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Rockstar Games has confirmed the official launch date for GTA 6 as May 26, 2026, nearly a year away. Initially targeted for late 2025, however, the game had been bumped to mid-2026 to give performance and polish another good look.
On the Xbox listing, it is stated that only Series X and Series S are listed; there is no mention of any Xbox One support. It will most probably carry a Mature (M) rating given by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Although currently unavailable, pre-orders will likely be set up close to launch. In fact, Rockstar games and its parent company, Take-Two, usually set pre-orders around the timing of a final trailer, which could be sometime between late 2025 and early 2026.
Having had two powerful trailers, everyone expects a third and, presumably, final one to be given in the forthcoming months to stimulate excitement and trigger pre-orders.
Wishlist Alert: With any major developments, like pre-orders, new trailers, or price reveals, they will post an alert on the addition of the game to their wishlist.
The Xbox community hubs, like r/XboxSeriesS, are lively with excitement. One user joked, ‘I smashed the A button to wishlist so hard the button is stuck,’ while others pondered performance choices and download logistics.
Digital Foundry's technical analysts speculate that the current-gen console versions of the game may target 30 fps with ray tracing enabled. In contrast, the next-gen console and PC versions are expected to offer 60 fps, potentially with adjustable visual settings.
Though Xbox gamers cannot buy GTA 6 yet, it's being listed on the Microsoft Store grants it visibility and provides the peace of mind of wishlisting with preloading activated almost a year before the inked-in May 26, 2026 launch date.
Updates will be pushed to those who add it now, who will also get the first chance for pre-orders; watch this space for announcement rollouts, trailers, price tags, and much more!
Also Read: GTA 6: Top NPC Features That Will Make Players Fall in Love with the Game
