Yes, The Series S Will Play GTA6

Grand Theft Auto 6 has been unveiled and it looks amazing. But as is standard, it’s led to a standard reaction in some of the more reactionary parts of the internet. So let’s put it to rest right here: the Series S will play GTA6 just fine.

No, it won’t hold anything back. The next Grand Theft Auto will undoubtedly be mindblowing wherever you end up playing it. That is, after all, what Rockstar do. Red Dead Redemption 2 was one of the best games of last generation because of its attention to detail and because ti went further than almost any other game. GTA6 will do that too.

And the Series S – Xbox’s little box that could – will be perfectly fine playing it. If you buy this console it’s because you don’t care about visuals, and it’ll run without the bells and whistles that others see as necessary. That’s A-ok. That’s the whole point of the console.

There hasn’t been a single game that can’t run on the Series S so far, despite the amount of concern around it. Yes, Baldur’s Gate 3 was delayed, but firstly it’s out now, and it brought with it a load of optimisations on other platforms. And secondly, it clearly wasn’t an issue with getting it running on the console, as much as having to the time to get those optimisations done. With support and a few extra months, the game works fine on Series S, albeit without co-op.

The fact is that games will scale down to the Series S just fine. Granted, you might end up playing at a reduced resolution and framerate. Maybe the draw distance won’t be as good. Perhaps textures will be less impressive.

Compromising on GTA6

But buying a Series S for graphics is like buying a Smart Car for its sex appeal. Sure, nobody is going to stop you, but it’s right there in front of you.  This is a HD console in the 4k age. And that suits some people just fine.

We also have to remember that Grand Theft Auto 5 was initially released on the PS3 and Xbox 360. That triggers the “MUST CHECK” portion of my brain each time I read it, but it’s true. I was there. Red Dead Redemption 2 was released on the PS4 and Xbox One, and to this day hasn’t been released from those shackles with an update. Rockstar are technical wizards. And if they can build those games for those systems, the things they’ll be able to do on Xbox Series X, Series S and PS5 will be staggering. And when they bring it to PC – which they will, hopefully sooner rather than later – people will test just what they can get away with when it comes to specs. No doubt we’ll be surprised.

The Series S is a fine entry into this generation, so long as you’re willing to compromise. Any concern in this area is done entirely in bad faith. And even if there were a mountain of games “held back” by the S, Rockstar’s credentials show they could get it working just fine.