Xbox Fires Back at GTA 6 Preorder Worries: 'We're Very Happy'

After a report claimed GTA 6 preorders lean heavily toward PS5, Xbox's chief strategy officer says the game is breaking Xbox preorder records and internal data matches its console market share.

GTA 6 preorders are shaping up to be a PlayStation party — or at least that's what one report suggested. The Verge's Tom Warren recently claimed that preorders for the game skew heavily toward PS5, with the gap between Sony's console and Xbox big enough to raise some eyebrows.

Naturally, that didn't sit quietly. Xbox chief strategy officer Matt Ball stepped in to push back, telling fans he's actually pretty thrilled with how things are going on Microsoft's side. According to Tweak Town, Ball wrote that Xbox is "very happy" with GTA 6 preorders, adding that the game is breaking preorder records on Xbox — and he expects even more records to fall throughout the fall.

His explanation? Internal analysis shows Xbox's share of GTA 6 preorders lines up with its overall share of the console market. In other words, nothing to see here — the numbers are exactly where the company expects them to be.

Of course, Tom Warren wasn't about to let that slide. He replied to Ball with a simple follow-up question: "How big is your share of the console market?" Fair question, honestly. And the answer? Crickets. Ball didn't offer any further details or numbers to back up the claim.

So where does that leave us? We've got one report saying PS5 is dominating GTA 6 preorders, and an Xbox executive saying everything is fine and record-breaking. Both things can technically be true at the same time — a game can set records on Xbox while still selling way more copies on PlayStation, especially given the PS5's larger install base this generation.

What's clear is that GTA 6 is a monster event no matter how you slice it. Every platform holder wants a piece of that pie, and neither side is going to publicly admit anything less than total confidence. Xbox's stance is simple: the preorders are rolling in, records are falling, and the fall could bring even more.

We won't get the full picture until the game actually launches and real sales data starts pouring in. Until then, expect both camps to keep spinning the numbers their way. Which platform are you grabbing GTA 6 on? Let us know in the comments.