GTA 6's preorders mark the start of a long wait for it to come to PC, despite the fact we'll likely make up '50% of the sales'

Here at PC Gamer, we're all very excited about Grand Theft Auto 6—given it's one of the biggest videogame events of the decade. Rockstar games are becoming an increasingly rarer milestone that seems determined to bring some new big-swing advancement in tech. For instance, gorgeous graphics that're pretty enough to send me into an existential crisis.

Given preorders went up today, you might think that has us all a-flutter with excitement. But 'lo, what's this? It's not coming for PC? Phooey!

Back in 2026, Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two and occasional philosopher, told Bloomberg that "Rockstar always starts on console because I think with regard to a release like that you're judged by serving the core".

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The implication that we're both not Rockstar's core consumer base. Left out in the rain, looking sad and glassy-eyed from under our collective umbrella while across the way console players giggle while crashing a helicopter into a building or something.

I echo PC Gamer's own Andy Chalk—and most of our staff—when I say: Hey, what the hell? I can't think of a real advantage, aside from maybe giving your developers more time to optimise and iron out launch day bugs, to abstaining. After all, PC gaming's one of the biggest growing markets in this massive industry.

And I mean, sure, maybe we're a little sore about the fact our coverage'll be impacted by the fact most of us don't have consoles—some of us do, and they'll be working tirelessly for your benefit, but certainly not the lion's share. But even those of us with the honoured videogame boxes are going to be felt put-out by Zelnick's artificial cool kids club.

There's a sort of sorrow to all of this by way of the fact that GTA 6 is likely to be one of the prettiest games in recent memory, and yet it'll be leashed to crummy hardware. Our online editor, Fraser Brown, rallied against the subpar experience of gaming on console as compared to his beastly rig, and I have no doubt will have a grumble about having to play on a blurrier resolution than his 4090s, which shall be sitting in his PC the entire time, neglected.

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But even I, as a 3060 peasant without a console, don't think Rockstar's in the right on this one. GTA 5's modding community is lively and vibrant and a boon to the game, and—oh, what's that? Rockstar's been clamping down on non-official mod support? Ah, that makes more sense, then.

The cynic in me also wonders (loudly, in this very article) it has something to do with GTA 6's pricing. In case you're out of the loop, the ultimate edition of the game will feature some core perks hacksawed off and stuffed into its $100 price-point, which is a huge shame.

In a hypothetical scenario, enterprising pirates or modders on PC could find a way to circumvent these artificial barriers—it could be argued that Rockstar really wants folks to splash out for that $20 markup.

Or, I have to concede, stubbornly sticking to its guns. Rockstar games rarely come with day-one PC releases to, as Zelnick said, serve its core audience of console gamers. But also, in the very same interview, Zelnick said that "with regard to a big title, PC can be 45, 50% of the sales." God damnit.

Well, Zelnick, I've got some numbers of our own. We've been running a poll, linked below, that'll be closing on the 28th of June.

Let's take a look at the numbers at the time of writing, shall we? And—oh, 39% of you aren't buying it at all. Alright, that's a pretty substantial amount of PC Gamer readers that don't like GTA, fair does.

But just 13% are excited enough to go for the console release and, as our own Ted Litchfield theorised, potentially provide Take-Two with a double-dip of sales when the PC version comes out. Now, obviously our deeply scientific and accurate polls aren't, some might argue, conclusive snapshots of PC demographics.

It does, however, mean that the majority of you who are excited about GTA 6 will be just like us website staff: Sadly gazing through a window as one of the biggest gaming events of the decade passes us by, because Zelnick doesn't think we're a core audience. Despite accounting for 45% of his business' sales. I'm gonna have an aneurysm.