new report says gta 6 is carrying console sales revenue on its back

Saw Insider Gaming running a piece about a new report that says GTA 6 is basically the thing propping up console sales revenue for the back half of the year. Not a huge shock given the pre-order numbers we've seen since June, but still wild to see it framed that way.

The report apparently estimates GTA 6 will drive "immense console growth" later this year. That wording is doing a lot of work. We already know the game is locked to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S for now, no PC version announced, so anyone who wants to play at launch needs current gen hardware. That alone probably moves a ton of units in October and November.

I keep thinking about the people who held off on upgrading. GTA 5 carried the PS4 and Xbox One for years, and now GTA 6 might do the same for this generation. The $79.99 standard and $99.99 ultimate editions aren't cheap, but compared to buying a whole console, the game is the cheap part. If someone is on the fence about a PS5 or Series X, November 19 is probably the deadline they've been waiting for.

What I'm curious about is whether this actually translates to long term console growth or just a spike. A lot of people might buy a console for GTA 6 and then not buy much else. That's still revenue for Sony and Microsoft, but it doesn't necessarily mean the console market is healthy. The report says "saving" console sales revenue, which makes it sound like without GTA 6 the numbers would be rough.

Anyone else think this is more about the lack of other system sellers than GTA 6 being some miracle? Or are we just accepting that Rockstar is the only studio that can move hardware like this anymore?

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Source: Insider Gaming · Curated content.