GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only. There is no PC version at launch and no announced window for one, so if you want to play in November on a machine you don't currently own, you're buying one of two console families.
That decision changed on August 1.
What the Xbox price increase did
Microsoft raised Xbox console prices worldwide effective August 1, 2026: $100 on 512GB models and $150 on 1TB models, with the 2TB model discontinued entirely. The company attributed it to console storage and memory prices rising more than 2.5x, with a further doubling anticipated by fall 2027.
The result is that the Series S 512GB now sits at $499.99 — a $200 increase over its $299 launch price, and 50% more than it originally cost. The Series X disc model reached $799.99, roughly $300 above its 2020 launch price. And the disc-based Series X now costs substantially more than the disc-based PS5 Slim.
This is the second Xbox increase inside a year, and it landed on the same day GTA 6 pre-orders opened.
| Machine | Position after August 1 | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 (disc) | Cheaper than the disc Series X by a wide margin; keeps disc access to the used market | Best overall pick |
| PS5 Digital | Matches Series S pricing with substantially more power | Good, but forfeits the used-disc market permanently |
| Xbox Series X | Most expensive route; strongest Xbox hardware | Only if you're committed to the Xbox ecosystem |
| Xbox Series S | Same price as PS5 Digital, meaningfully less graphical power | Hard to justify at the new price |
| PS5 Pro | Highest-end supported hardware | Only if you already wanted it for other reasons |
The honest recommendation
On price and capability alone, the disc-based PS5 is the strongest buy for GTA 6 right now. It's cheaper than the equivalent Xbox, more capable than the Series S, and the disc drive keeps a decade of cheap secondhand software available to you — which matters more than usual given that GTA 6 itself has no disc.
Sony has also confirmed GTA 6 will "play best on PS5" as part of a joint marketing arrangement, though treat that as marketing language rather than a technical claim until independent comparisons exist.
The counter-argument for Xbox is Game Pass, which remains a genuine value proposition and is not affected by hardware pricing. If you'd use it heavily, that changes the total cost picture over a couple of years. It does not change the up-front number.
Buy before the demand spike
Hardware pricing has moved in one direction all year, and a launch this size concentrates demand into a few weeks. Whatever you're buying, buying it earlier is the same machine for less.
Should you buy used?
Reasonable, and better value than it was six months ago precisely because new prices climbed. A used current-generation console two or three years old still has years of support ahead of it, and the failure modes are easy to check quickly.
Test within the first 48 hours while you still have marketplace recourse: every USB port, the disc drive at full read speed, fan noise under sustained load, both stick modules for drift, and a large install to exercise the internal storage. If any of those is wrong, you'll know immediately.
Prices on used consoles will also firm up as November approaches, for the same demand reasons as new hardware. This is not a market that will be friendlier in ten weeks.
Don't buy purely on the release date
Worth stating plainly: this game has been delayed twice, from 2025 to May 2026 to November 2026. Take-Two has reaffirmed the current date repeatedly and built revenue guidance around it, which is a strong signal — but it is not a guarantee.
If you want a console anyway, for the exclusive library and the enormous discounted back catalogue, buy it now and treat GTA 6 as a bonus. If your only reason is one game in November, understand that you'd be buying a $500-plus machine on a date that has already moved twice.
What holds up
- The disc PS5 is now clearly the cheaper capable route to GTA 6
- A disc drive keeps the entire cheap secondhand library available
- Used current-gen consoles are better value now that new prices rose
- Buying early avoids both the price trend and the November demand spike
What doesn't
- Xbox prices rose $100–$150 on August 1 and the 2TB model is gone
- The Series S is now priced level with a more capable PS5 Digital
- Game Pass genuinely offsets Xbox's hardware premium over time
- The release date has already moved twice
The verdict
BUY — the disc-based PS5, and buy it before October. After the August 1 Xbox increase it's the cheaper capable machine, and the disc drive gives you access to a decade of cheap used software that GTA 6's code-in-a-box release notably won't.
Go Xbox if you'd genuinely use Game Pass heavily, since that closes the gap over a couple of years. Buy used if you're comfortable testing quickly. And budget for storage in the same purchase — you'll need it.