GTA 6 may be unplayable on PS5 if players don't follow this one instruction on launch day

GTA VI may be unplayable for some PS5 players if this urgent instruction isn't followed ahead of the game's highly anticipated launch this November.

We’re just over six weeks away from Rockstar Games treating us to GTA VI, with millions of players expected to fire up their PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles at launch. There’s also a good chance plenty of gamers will suddenly be too ill to work that week.

Unfortunately, PC gamers will have to wait longer, as Rockstar hasn’t announced a PC version just yet. However, even PS5 players could be left unable to play GTA VI if they don’t take this rumoured step ahead of launch.

Why could millions of PS5 players miss out on GTA 6 at launch?

Recently, you may have seen reports that hackers have managed to jailbreak the PlayStation 5, which could result in just about any game being played on the console, no matter the original platform or generation. This includes modern PS5 games.

As brought to our attention by X account PlayStation Game Size, Rockstar Games is reportedly considering that GTA VI will only boot up if the PS5 firmware update 14.10.00.00 is installed on the console at the game's launch. This is a firmware update that was deployed by Sony after hackers cracked the PS5 console to play emulated games.

The reason this is reportedly being considered is to counter piracy of PlayStation 5 games, and no doubt, if it’s possible for gamers to play an illegal copy of GTA VI at launch, that could be a strong temptation for some - especially as some form of protest against Sony for ditching physical video games from January 2028 and Rockstar Games only releasing GTA VI digitally.

The information related to GTA VI requiring a firmware update was datamined by PlayStation Game Size, and considering the anti-physical decisions made by Sony Interactive Entertainment and Rockstar Games recently, that possibility doesn't feel like an unlikely scenario.

READ MORE: PS5 base model drops 'extraordinary' free graphics boost just in time for GTA 6

What does the PS5 jailbreak mean for piracy and emulation?

In a nutshell, a PS5 jailbreak means hackers have bypassed some of the console’s built-in security restrictions, allowing unofficial software to run on it. This, in turn, means user-created software can exploit the PS5’s operating system, potentially allowing emulated software to run new and retro games, regardless of when they were originally released.

While it doesn’t mean that every game will run on a modded console, it’s certainly a possibility that the likes of GTA VI could. A jailbroken PS5 may work on older official firmware, but installing a recent update could patch the vulnerability that makes the jailbreak possible, such as 14.10.00.00.

You also run the risk of your console being bricked if it’s discovered to have modified software, potentially leaving it unable to work again. As for the Xbox Series X/S, there appears to be no widely available jailbreak at this time, despite some exploits reportedly being discovered.

Grand Theft Auto VI will be released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026.