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Xbox says GTA 6 will not stream to PC, Rob Nelson’s full IGN interview, and $100 of PlayStation credit for $80 at Costco

Lucia fires a pistol from a car window during a tunnel chase, police lights behind. Image: Rockstar Games.

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Xbox says GTA 6 will not stream to PC at launch, after a report that it had exclusive streaming rights. Rob Nelson’s August interview with IGN is now out in full, with his lines on wanted levels and on Jason and Lucia. Costco is selling $100 of PlayStation Store credit for $80 until 11 October, enough for the Ultimate Edition. Gears of War: E-Day launched as an Xbox exclusive by choice, Bit Reactor has started bringing furloughed staff back, Capcom explained its AI plans for the RE Engine, a leaker dates the confirmed PS5 version of Forza Horizon 6 to January, and an ESRB listing points to PS5 and Xbox Series upgrades for Mafia 2 and 3.

Lucia fires a pistol from a car window during a tunnel chase, police lights behind. Image: Rockstar Games.
Lucia fires from a car window during a tunnel chase, police lights behind, in one of Rockstar’s 30 September screenshots. Image: Rockstar Games.

Xbox’s Matthew Ball: GTA 6 “will not be streaming exclusively or to PC”

The Verge reported on 6 October that Xbox had secured the exclusive right to stream GTA 6, which would put it on PC through Xbox Cloud Gaming on launch day. Xbox’s chief strategy officer, Matthew Ball, answered on X the same day: “We are looking forward to launching GTA 6 on Xbox November 19, though the game will not be streaming exclusively or to PC,” as reported by PC Gamer. PC port timing stays at Possible in our Rumour Ledger, with nothing on the record from Rockstar or Take-Two; what is on the record is in the hub.

Rob Nelson’s full IGN interview: hit-and-run escapes, and intimacy “has to be done right”

IGN has published its full interview with Rob Nelson, head of development at Rockstar North, recorded in August before An Extended Look. The lines doing the rounds this week come from that interview. On losing the police: “We’re really trying to encourage this hit-and-run style of gameplay.” On the player’s place in Leonida: “The world will act upon you as well as you acting upon the world,” which GameSpot ran as GTA 6 not making you “all-powerful” the way GTA 5 did. On physical intimacy between Jason and Lucia, Nelson said it “has to be done right” and that the team wants to “err on the right side of it,” per GamesRadar’s reading of the interview. Whether the pair end the story as a couple is the player’s choice, as Nelson told The New York Times in August. More on both characters in our GTA 6 hub.

Costco: $100 of PlayStation Store credit for $80 until 11 October

Costco is selling four $25 PlayStation Store gift cards for $80, and two $75 cards for $120, to members through 11 October or while stocks last, GameSpot reported on 6 October. That is 20 percent off any PlayStation Store purchase, GTA 6’s $99.99 Ultimate Edition included, which GameSpot notes is digital-only. It is a retailer promotion on store credit, not a Rockstar or Take-Two discount, and a Costco membership costs $65 a year. Edition prices are in our editions guide.

Gears of War: E-Day launched as an Xbox exclusive, and The Coalition says that was the plan

Gears of War: E-Day launched on 6 October on Xbox Series X|S and PC, after early access from 1 October for Premium Edition buyers and Game Pass subscribers with the Premium Upgrade, per Xbox Wire. PC Gamer’s review rates the shooting and finds the campaign slow in places. A PS5 version was pulled earlier this year, and studio head Mike Crump told the BBC the series is “entwined deeply with the brand” and a natural exclusive after 20 years on Xbox, as reported by IGN. Crump also told IGN the next Gears game “will not take nearly as long” to make. PC Gamer reports that no layoffs have been announced at The Coalition. The game is on our release calendar.

Bit Reactor’s paid headcount is back above half after the pre-launch furlough

Bit Reactor furloughed most of its staff without pay before Star Wars Zero Company launched on 27 August; one source put the share at around 80 percent, Game Developer reported on 1 September. Chief executive Greg Foertsch said in a statement to Game File this week: “This week, we started the process of returning more of our team back to work at Bit Reactor.” Game File’s sources put the paid headcount at more than half of its pre-furlough level, VGC reported on 7 October. The studio has given no numbers.

Capcom says REX will add AI tools to the RE Engine, with no plans for generative AI in its games

At Capcom’s recruitment conference on 2 October, programmer Satoshi Ishida set out REX, short for RE Next Engine: the RE Engine will be improved piece by piece rather than replaced, and AI is among the tools. After the reaction online, a Capcom spokesperson told IGN the plan answers rising game sizes and development loads. The spokesperson said the tools are for development: improving tooling, testing code and analysing data. Capcom told IGN it has no plans to use generative AI to create its games.

Forza Horizon 6 on PS5: billbil-kun says 26 January 2027, on disc and digital

The PS5 version of Forza Horizon 6 is confirmed; the date is not. Playground Games wrote on forza.net on 7 September that it “will be releasing on PS5 later this year”. Billbil-kun, the leaker with a long record on store listings, reported on Dealabs that it is now set for 26 January 2027, on disc as well as digitally, GameSpot reported on 7 October. Microsoft has not announced a new date, so the January date is Likely on the leaker’s record, not Confirmed.

An ESRB listing points to PS5 and Xbox Series upgrades for Mafia 2 and 3

The ESRB has rated Mafia 2 and Mafia 3 for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, IGN reported on 7 October. Definitive Editions of both already exist on last-generation consoles, so the listings point to current-generation upgrades, which 2K has not announced. It fits the pattern of 2K’s Mafia: Definitive Edition update for PS5 and Xbox Series alongside the Omertà Collection.

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