Summary
With the recent reveal of the hotly anticipatedGrand Theft Auto 6, many PC gamers are disappointed to learn that the title is onlyarriving on Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 some time in 2025. While this news is disappointing for some, longtime fans ofRockstar Gamesare likely unsurprised since the company habitually skips PC when launching new games.
Annoying as it may be,Rockstarsurely has its reasons for following this pattern of delaying its PC releases.Grand Theft Auto 5had over a year between its console and PC releases, andRed Dead Redemption 2had a similar delay. In the absence of any official reason for this practice, it seems appropriate to speculate on the matter.
Delaying The PC Release Gives Rockstar More Control
Optimization
The most obvious reason for Rockstar to delay the PC release of its games in this way is optimization. Rockstar surely wants to give its fans the best experience possible, and since console hardware is standardized, the development team can focus on getting the most out of it. It is true that many other developers release games concurrently on PC and consoles without any issues, but there have beenmore than a few disastrous PC ports over the years.
First Impressions
With that said, there is another facet to standardized hardware to consider. Rockstar has much more control over first impressions when delaying the PC release of its games. As a product, video games are subject to mass scrutiny in the first few weeks or months of their existence. They are discussed, reviewed, and picked apart by the media and consumers.
The Benefit Of A More Unified Experience
An Equal-Level Playing Field For All Platforms at Launch
Rockstar Games has a well-established reputation for creating some of the most immersive and entertaining games in existence, possibly in part because it releases its games on standardized and dedicated gaming hardware first. As players share screenshots and videos of the game, it will look and perform more or less the same for everyone.
PC releases are an entirely different kettle of fish; there are myriad different configurations used by PC gamers. Even when performance issues are relatively isolated, the news can spread like wildfire and make some people hesitant to buy a game. Once the console version of its games are out the gates, Rockstar can focus on testing and optimizing the PC version to establish minimum and recommended hardware.
Below are a few Rockstar titles along with the amount of time between console and PC releases:
Other Issues Associated With PC Releases
Datamining
Datamining is another issue that potentially dissuades Rockstar from launching its games on PC. There are people out there who will analyze game code to discover things like quests, secrets, and story information, so they can discuss it and share it online. By skipping an initial PC launch, Rockstar avoids this problem for the most part, allowing the majority of its fan base to enjoy the game as intended.
Spoilers
With a big game likeGrand Theft Auto 6, it is almost certain that secrets discovered through datamining would pop up on the news feeds of gamers who want to discover these things for themselves. It’s also disappointing for the people working on the project,much like the leakedGTA 6trailer. Such leaks can make using social media feel like navigating a minefield; there are people out there who will intentionally spoil a game for others.
Piracy
Another of the possible reason why Rockstar skips PC when launching its games is piracy. It sometimes only takes days or even hours for game pirates to release a cracked version of a PC game. Pirated console games, on the other hand, are a comparative non-issue in modern times.
The Business Of Rockstar Games
Double-Dipping For Extra Sales
There are those who believe that Rockstar delays the PC release of its games as a means of “double-dipping,” that is, re-releasing a game with updated and/or exclusive features to get fans to buy it twice. At the end of the day,Rockstar Games is a business, and it wouldn’t be making video games if they didn’t generate revenue.
It seems unlikely that Rockstar’s delayed PC launches have nothing to do with financial gain, but it is also doubtful that the intention is purely to get people to buy a product more than once.Grand Theft Auto 5has made billions of dollars in its lifetime, mostly thanks toGTA Onlineand its microtransactions.
Following The Microtransaction Money
Avoiding Hackers in Online Play
Yet another possibility comes to mind when considering the amount of revenue generated by microtransactions:Rockstar could be delaying its PC launches to keep hackers outof its online ecosystems, at least until it has established a sufficiently large player base.
Online multiplayer games are like a magnet for modders who can and often do make the experience unpleasant for everyone else in the lobby.Rockstar wants players to buy in-game currencyfor real world cash, and this is a hard sell when its servers are infested with people who can spawn cash at will. This more or less brings this train of thought full circle; in the end, it’s all about control; PC gamers are just too powerful.
There are some possible logical reasons for Rockstar delaying PC launches. There probably isn’t a singular, specific reason behind this practice, but only the company knows precisely why it does things this way.Rockstarhas a more controlled release, avoids the shenanigans of pirates, dataminers, and hackers to an extent. It also buys itself more time to navigate the pitfalls associated with releasing games on PC, and makes some more money in one fell swoop.
