A hacking group breached Rockstar Games, the studio confirmed a limited amount of internal data was accessed through a third-party breach, and then the group followed through on its threat to release that data after its demands went unmet. Buried inside the alleged financial records now circulating online is a number that PC players of Grand Theft Auto VI are probably going to find uncomfortable: 97%.
That is the share of GTA Online weekly revenue that comes from consoles, based on the leaked documents. Not PC.
The numbers that explain everything
Here's the lowdown on what the leaked data allegedly shows. PS5 sits at the top of the GTA Online earnings pile, reportedly pulling in $4.5 million per week. Xbox Series X follows at $1.8 million, then PS4 at $947,000, Xbox One at $918,000, and finally PC at $264,000 a week.
Add all that up and the total weekly haul lands around $8.4 million. PC's cut? Roughly 3.1%.
That is a lopsided split by any measure, and it does a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to explaining why Rockstar has stayed completely silent on a PC version of Grand Theft Auto VI. The game is confirmed for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with a November 19 release date. PC has not been mentioned once.
Why PC players were always going to wait
The key here is that this pattern is not new for Rockstar. GTA 5 launched on PS3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013 and did not arrive on PC until April 2015, around 18 months later. Red Dead Redemption 2 hit consoles in October 2018 and came to PC in November 2019, a full year after. Rockstar did not announce the Red Dead PC version until October 2019, barely a month before it launched.
So even if a PC version of Grand Theft Auto VI is in development right now, there is genuine historical precedent for Rockstar saying nothing about it until the console release is already out the door.
What the leak adds to that picture is a financial rationale. If consoles are generating roughly 32 times more GTA Online revenue than PC on a weekly basis, the business case for treating console as the priority platform is not hard to follow.
What this means for players waiting on PC
For PC players, the honest read here is that a PC version of Grand Theft Auto VI is almost certainly coming at some point. Rockstar has never permanently skipped PC for a mainline GTA release. The question has always been when, not if.
The leaked revenue split suggests Rockstar has little financial incentive to rush a PC launch alongside the console version. Getting the PS5 and Xbox releases right first, then converting the existing GTA Online PC audience over time, fits the studio's historical approach and, apparently, its revenue priorities.
Rockstar has also reportedly spent somewhere north of $2 billion developing Grand Theft Auto VI, with some estimates pushing significantly higher. Recouping that investment starts on November 19 with console players, who represent the overwhelming majority of where the money actually comes from based on this data.
PC players looking for any official word should probably take note of how Red Dead Redemption 2 played out: the latest gaming news suggests history tends to repeat with Rockstar. Check back after the console launch, because that is likely when the PC conversation will actually start.
For now, the best move is to keep an eye on what Rockstar says post-launch. Based on past form, a PC announcement for Grand Theft Auto VI could come with very little notice, and you can keep up with all the developments through the latest reviews and coverage as the November release approaches.
