GTA 6 gamers spot first Xbox 'downgrade' as launch day looms

Grand Theft Auto VI’s November 19 launch is almost finally upon us, with copies of the game already in the hands of many.

Preloads for digital copies of the game began on November 10 after Rockstar Games shifted the date forwards due to the title’s enormous file size.

For those who opted for code-in-a-box copies, preloads open today, on November 12.

Those who have a code-in-a-box copy in hand have taken to social media to reveal that the box features a double-sided fold-up poster, which is a nice touch.

One side features Lucia, with GTA VI’s key art appearing on the other; the Grand Theft Auto franchise’s classic art style is used.

What has now been realised, however, is that those with an Xbox code-in-a-box copy are getting a slight downgrade compared to their PlayStation counterparts.

PlayStation 5 gamers are getting the slightly better physical gift, it seems

X (formerly Twitter) user GameRiot took to the site to share that “the GTA VI poster is actually smaller on Xbox compared to PS5”.

You can see in the video clip below that we’re not talking a couple of milimetres here.

There is likely a very good reason for this, as GameRiot points out, and that’s all down to case sizing.

While PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S physical cases are similarly sized, it appears that the area for posters, booklets, and such like within the Xbox case is slightly smaller.

Therefore, GTA VI’s poster has been made smaller to fit accordingly, rather than this being any form of intentional slight to Xbox users.

It may feel that way amid Rockstar Games and PlayStation’s ongoing “plays best” marketing campaign that favours Sony’s console.

What isn’t abundantly clear yet is whether this difference in poster sizing is worldwide or whether this is unique to where GameRiot is based in the UK.

Grand Theft Auto fans are definitely seeing the humour in this latest spot.

“Cancelled my pre-order, unplayable,” joked BanksniO.

“They taking plays best on PS5 too seriously,” added vce_bby.

It’s a shame that Jason doesn’t get the chance to shine on the poster, unless he’s going to pop up elsewhere.

GameRiot did confirm that the PS5’s poster is roughly A3 sized while Xbox’s is understandably somewhat below A3 which could make the Xbox version difficult to frame, if that’s something you’re interested in.

READ MORE: GTA 6's first player ratings surface early via PlayStation Store, oops

It’s definitely been a busy week for GTA VI with an endless stream of marketing continuing to rollout.

Rockstar Games announced GTA VI: The Festival, a once-in-a-lifetime launch party based in Miami, Florida, plus Metacritic and Fandom have revealed a contest where you could win up to $500 in Visa gift cards simply by predicting GTA VI’s Metacritic score.

We’ve also had confirmation that GTA VI will only run at 30fps, including on the PlayStation 5 Pro - something that’s ruffled a few feathers.

If you haven’t preloaded your game already, you may want to this weekend. GTA VI will be here before you know it.