Will Grand Theft Auto 6 come to Xbox Game Pass?

Grand Theft Auto 6is still a complete mystery, despite the fact that it’s the most-talked-about upcoming game at the moment. Reports claim that the game is in development, with arelease date still years off. There are also rumors that it’ll be a huge game thatcompiles maps from previous entriesin the series.

While much if this is hearsay, there’s one question I find myself asking: Will it come toXbox Game Passat launch? That’s a question I ask about a lot of games these days, but its becoming especially front of mind when I think aboutGrand Theft Auto 6. Developer Rockstar has been playing nice with Microsoft’s subscription service over the past few years, opening the door for Game Pass’ biggest power play yet. It would be a full checkmate moment.

It’ll be a long time until we get a firm answer here, but there’s a new reason to speculate:Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition.The upcoming collection is the first GTA game to release since 2013’sGrand Theft Auto V. Xbox Game Pass didn’t launch until 2017, so this is the first chance we’ve gotten to see how committed Rockstar is to bringing a new entry in the series to the service.

It’s a bizarre move and one that shows that Rockstar isn’t ready to give its biggest series away for free just yet. Putting one game on each service won’t really help fans of the series much. The appeal of the trilogy collection is, well, the trilogy. Those who want to play all three games will need to pony up a full $60, so throwingSan Andreason Game Pass almost feels like giving Microsoft fans a demo.

Previous Rockstar games have come to Game Pass before, but the approach has been similarly cagey. BothGrand Theft Auto VandRed Dead Redemption 2have appeared on the service, but they disappeared just as fast. The latter joined Game Pass in May 2020 andleft the library that September. The same thing happened withRed Dead Onlinethis year, timeline and all.

Based on that history, the chances ofGrand Theft Auto 6coming to Xbox Game Pass at launch are looking slim. This is going to be a cash cow for Rockstar, and if its not willing to add its remake collection to services, or keep its old games available, there’s no reason to think it’ll give the milk away for free — especially when Rockstar has its own games launcher that stands to get a big boost when that game debuts.

Naturally, a lot can change in the next few years.GTA6doesn’t seem like it’ll launch until 2025 at the earliest, according to reports. Xbox Game Pass is growing every year, and 2022 should be its biggest yet. Companies will only be more and more enticed by the service. Still, temper your expectations. Game Pass needsGrand Theft Automore than Grand Theft Auto needs Game Pass. Rockstar clearly knows that, and it’s going to game the system to boost its bottom line, not its player counts.