The recent Netflix gameplay reveal of GTA 6 has resulted in a huge spike of console sales in the UK, with PS5 sales rising by a whopping 33% and XBOX Series X|S hardware sales jumping to 34%, according to the reports of Nielsen IQ (via The Game Business). It’s also reported that sales for the Nintendo Switch 2 console has increased by around 33%, even though it’s known that Rockstar’s upcoming open world behemoth isn’t scheduled to release on the handheld.
However, the same article also includes comments from analyst Ronan Patrick, who states that the potential for a significant increase in hardware sales cause of GTA 6 may not be as much as it’s currently hoped.
“We expect, because of [GTA] and Call of Duty, to see an uptick in the install base, but nothing particularly massive. But perhaps some of the fears are overblown when it comes to software. It’s important to remember that the lion’s share of time is often spent on older titles, and the closest analogy we have to a hardware shock is during the 2020-2021 GPU shortage, and you didn’t see engagement or revenue being taken off course. You basically saw a reallocation of spend into software.”
The spike in sales was frankly to be expected, cause of the old adage that “Software sells Hardware” and as GTA 6 will remain strictly console-exclusive for at least a year (as happened in case of it’s predecessor GTA 5), more players buying the consoles are only natural. However, it seems the ongoing component crisis which has resulted in price increases for both PS5 and the Xbox Series X|S, would put a dent in the overall gain in console sales for the game, in more ways than one.
GTA 6 is currently slated to launch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19, 2026.
