Your old Xbox One can handle GTA 6 through the cloud, but the clock is ticking

Yes: GTA 6 will be playable on an Xbox One through Xbox Cloud Gaming, as Rockstar confirmed on November 10, but you have to buy the game separately ($79.99 in the US, £69.99 in the UK) and pay for your cloud time, because Game Pass only includes 5 to 15 hours a month depending on the plan. We've done the maths so you know what the first month costs, how many hours each plan gives you, what connection you need and what to keep in mind before you pay.

What exactly did Rockstar say?

One sentence tucked away in the pre-load article. In the Rockstar Newswire post, right after PS5 and PS5 Pro, Rockstar adds that the game will also be available through Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles, running on Xbox Series S graphics settings. And there's a warning worth reading twice: as with any streaming, your connection speed and other technical factors can affect performance in a way they wouldn't if you were playing locally.

In plain English: the Xbox One doesn't run GTA 6. A Microsoft server does, and it sends you the picture over the internet like a video, while your console just displays it and sends back what you press on the controller. That's how a 2013 machine can handle a game that isn't coming to PS4 or Xbox One.

Two details in that sentence matter. Rockstar talks about consoles, not PC or phones. And it matches what Xbox's chief strategy officer Matthew Ball said a month ago, when The Verge reported that Microsoft held exclusive cloud rights to GTA 6 and he had to set the record straight:

Matthew Ball@ballmatthew

While the excitement for GTAVI and XBOX is great to see, it has also led to some misreporting. We are looking forward to launching GTAVI on XBOX November 19, though the game will not be streaming exclusively or to PC.

Do you need Game Pass?

To play in the cloud, you'll have to pay for something on top of the game, no way around it. GTA 6 is not on Game Pass: you have to buy it, and the Xbox Store lists the Standard Edition at $79.99 and the Ultimate at $99.99 in the US, or £69.99 and £89.99 in the UK (prices checked on November 11). The Game Pass page says so in the fine print: cloud games that aren't included with the service are "sold separately".

Once you own the game, there are two ways to play it in the cloud:

• With Game Pass. Since November, all three console plans come with a monthly allowance of cloud hours. Hours from different subscriptions don't stack: if you have two, the one with more hours counts.
• Without Game Pass. Xbox announced on Xbox Wire in September that, also from November, you'd be able to buy cloud hours on their own in the Xbox Store to stream the games you own. And it spells it out: cloud play gives Xbox One owners access to Series X|S games "without requiring an immediate hardware upgrade".

How much does it cost to play GTA 6 on an Xbox One?

The hours are the same in every country (we checked the US, UK and Spanish stores), but Game Pass prices aren't. Here's the first month worked out with Xbox's euro prices in Spain, checked on November 10, the €79.99 the game costs in the eurozone, and leaving out the 14-days-for-1 offer for new subscribers:

Five hours a month is, realistically, a couple of evenings. Fifteen is enough to get stuck into Leonida, but that averages out at half an hour a day. And if you plan to play more, the plan doesn't stretch: once the included hours are gone, Xbox says you'll have to buy more from the store.

How much for? That's the missing piece. Since October 21, Xbox has been testing hour packs at "launch pricing" with Insiders: 10 hours for $3.99, 25 for $7.99 and 50 for $11.99, according to Windows Central, and those hours don't expire until you use them. That works out at between 24 and 40 cents an hour: far cheaper than any Game Pass plan if all you want the cloud for is GTA 6. As of November 10, Microsoft hasn't announced final prices or said whether subscribers will pay the same.

What internet connection do you need?

According to the Xbox Cloud Gaming page, Microsoft asks for a minimum of 10 Mbps download, recommends 20 Mbps on consoles for the best quality and suggests 5 GHz Wi-Fi. Most broadband connections clear that easily; the problem usually isn't speed, it's stability. If you can, plug your Xbox One into the router with a cable.

And accept the limitations Xbox itself admits for streaming: capped video resolution, saves stored only in the cloud and a bit of lag between pressing a button and something happening on screen. In a game that will also be running on Series S settings, don't expect the same picture as on a current-gen console.

What if I already have a PS5 or a Series X|S?

Then this isn't for you, unless you want to play away from the TV: Rockstar has confirmed that GTA 6 will support Remote Play on PlayStation and Xbox, which streams the game from your own console and doesn't use up cloud hours. And if you have a Series X|S, the normal route is to download it: the pre-load is already live and needs up to 212 GB.

For anyone sticking with an Xbox One, the cloud is the cheapest way into Leonida in the short term. But do the maths: between the game, the subscription and hours that run out, within a few months you're getting close to the price of a Series S. And if you're thinking of waiting for a discount, we've already explained why Black Friday won't help.