Conflict Around Grand Theft Auto 6 Sales: Microsoft Responds to Claims of Sony Dominance
The opening of Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders set off a flurry of chatter suggesting PlayStation 5 was steamrolling Xbox. An IGN piece noted Sony had eight times more clicks on affiliate links, and many jumped from that stat straight to "PS5 wins" — a leap that confused clicks with actual sales.
Xbox pushed back, calling the journalists' inference irrelevant and pointing out that click counts ≠ demand (i.e., clicks don’t equal purchases). The company also said it logged a record number of pre-orders and asked folks to hold off on conclusions until official tallies appear — which, to some, might sound like standard PR, but it’s still a reminder that raw link data can be misleading.
Rockstar has said nothing so far. Until the November launch on current-gen consoles, the true picture of platform popularity will stay behind closed data panels — fyi, affiliate link traffic can be skewed by region or placement, not just fan preference.