If you think you’re the one eagerly awaiting GTA 6, you’re nowhere near the level of anticipation Sony and the PS5 have. Rockstar’s new giant is exactly what Sony has been waiting for to showcase the PS5 Pro’s power.

Sony’s financial report this August contained one figure that raised eyebrows. It wasn’t just the 80 million consoles sold worldwide—a remarkable milestone given the thin first-party lineup—but the gap between that number and the 65.9 million games sold in the first fiscal quarter. That leaves over 14 million PS5s without a single game purchase in the period, up from an 8.1 million gap last year.

Explanations vary: some players are relying on free-to-play titles, subscription services, or clearing their backlog; others may barely touch the system. But another possibility is simply that nothing in the catalog inspired them to buy. And that’s where GTA 6 comes in.

The Console-Selling Moment

First-party droughts, live-service failures like Concord, and the lackluster state of publishers such as Ubisoft or Square Enix have left the PS5 struggling for momentum. Yet one inevitable event looms: the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 on May 26, 2026. More than a blockbuster, Rockstar’s latest is expected to drive a new wave of console purchases. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick predicts the game will spark “a significant increase in console sales.”

Most of those sales will likely belong to PlayStation. The Xbox Series X with disc drive has quietly disappeared from major European retailers like Amazon and Mediamarkt, while the Series S hardly seems like the go-to platform for a graphical juggernaut such as GTA 6. With no PC version at launch, the association between GTA 6 and the PS5 looks set in stone—a strategy Sony itself pushed for. Initially targeting 18.5 million units sold by March 2026, Sony was forced to revise that number down to 15 million after the game’s delay.

Why GTA 6 Could Be PS5 Pro’s Trump Card

Projections had already fallen from 25 million to 21 million earlier this year, but GTA 6’s delay hit hardest. Looking back at GTA V’s release in 2013 offers perspective: even at the twilight of the PS3/Xbox 360 era, it spurred console sales from 1.1 to 2 million units on PS3, and from 1 to 1.2 million on Xbox 360 in a single quarter. GTA’s gravitational pull on hardware sales has precedent.

Now, GTA 6 may prove to be PS5 Pro’s greatest ally. Until the eventual PC release, the premium PlayStation is set to offer the definitive version, with unmatched visuals and fidelity. While skeptics doubt it will consistently deliver 60 FPS, few question that the Pro will deliver the most impressive presentation—something Xbox, focused on handheld gaming, appears unprepared to counter.

Source: 3djuegos