Playing GTA 6 on more than one console: primary PS5, home Xbox, Remote Play and cloud saves

The short answer

GTA VI is bought on an account, not on a console. The PlayStation Store listing spells out the rule: you can download and play it "on the main PS5 console associated with your account (through the 'Console Sharing and Offline Play' setting) and on any other PS5 consoles when you login with your same account". Xbox works the same way through the home Xbox.

That gives every household three cases:

• The one console you nominate (the PS5 with Console Sharing and Offline Play, or your home Xbox). Anyone who signs in on it can play your copy, even when you are not there, and it plays offline.
• Any other console of the same family. You can play there too, but you have to sign in with your own account. On Xbox you also have to be online.
• A console of the other family. A PlayStation purchase and an Xbox purchase are separate licences in separate stores, and Rockstar has announced nothing that links them.

The boxed edition does not change this. The Rockstar Store says physical versions "will only contain a download code inside the box" and that "a disc will not be included". The code is redeemed to an account like a digital purchase, so there is no disc to carry to a second console or lend to a friend. Our physical edition page covers what the box contains.

Step 1: choose the console that does the sharing

Pick the console the rest of the household uses, usually the one under the main TV. It is the only one where other profiles can play your copy, and the only one where your copy keeps working when the internet is down.

On PS5, go to Settings > Users and Accounts > Other > Console Sharing and Offline Play and select Enable. PlayStation Support says it is switched on automatically on the first PS5 you sign in to, and that it can be active on only one PS5 at a time. With it on, anyone using that console can play your games, even offline, and can use some of your PlayStation Plus benefits.

On Xbox Series X|S, press the Xbox button and go to Profile & system > Settings > General > Personalization > My home Xbox, then select Make this my home Xbox. Xbox Support says a console you add your account to becomes your home Xbox automatically unless you chose Lock it down during setup, and that you can have only one at a time. Friends and family who sign in on it "have access too, even when you're not signed in".

Step 2: know the limit before you switch

The two platforms cap switching differently, and both caps are easy to hit if you move a profile around in launch week.

• Xbox: "You can switch your home Xbox up to five times in any one-year period." Xbox Support adds that customer support "can't offer additional switches". When you reach the limit, the My home Xbox screen shows the next date you can change it.
• PS5: to activate a new console you first disable Console Sharing and Offline Play on the old one. If you no longer have the old console, Account Management > Device Management > PlayStation Consoles > Deactivate All Devices releases every console at once. PlayStation allows that remote reset only "once every six months", and it cannot target a single console.

So decide once, before you start the download. Moving the setting later costs an Xbox switch, and on PS5 it needs the old console in your hands or the six-monthly remote reset.

Step 3: playing on a second console

On a second PS5 you sign in with your own account and play. The store's licence text names "any other PS5 consoles" with the same account.

On a second Xbox, Xbox Support is explicit: "You'll always need to be signed in and connected to the Xbox network to play digital games" on a console that is not your home Xbox. Your games are available there "if the console is online and everyone is signed in".

Two household catches come from Xbox's own rules:

• One game at a time. If your profile is running a game on one console and you start a game on another, you must quit the first. Xbox Support warns that a profile set to sign in automatically can be kicked out when someone else starts a game on a console where you are still signed in. It suggests a sign-in PIN under Settings > Account > Sign-in, security & PIN.
• Each console needs its own copy. Xbox Support states that if other people want to play the same game with you on additional consoles at the same time, "each console must have its own copy of the game". GTA VI is single-player, so this matters when two people each want their own playthrough at the same moment, not for co-op.

Step 4: make your save follow you

The licence moving with your account does not mean your progress does. Here the platforms differ:

• Xbox: cloud saves are listed among GTA VI's capabilities on the Xbox Store. Xbox Support says saves are stored in the cloud automatically while you are connected, and that no subscription is needed. If you are offline when you quit the game, the save is not uploaded until you reconnect.
• PS5: cloud storage for saved data needs a PlayStation Plus membership, with room for up to 100 GB of PS5 saves. To sync automatically, turn on Settings > System > Power Saving > Features Available in Rest Mode > Stay Connected to the Internet, then Settings > Saved Data and Game/App Settings > Saved Data (PS5) > Sync Saved Data > Auto-Sync Saved Data. You can also upload or download one game's save from its options menu on the Games home.

Without PS Plus, a save made on one PS5 does not appear on another by itself. Rockstar has not announced cross-progression between PlayStation and Xbox for GTA VI.

Step 5: play without moving the console at all

The PlayStation Store tags GTA VI "Remote Play supported". With PS Remote Play, the PS5 stays where it is and streams to a PS Portal, a PC, a Mac, a phone, a tablet or another PS5 or PS4. PlayStation asks for at least 5 Mbps and recommends 15 Mbps or more. The stream is the console you are signed in on, so no licence moves anywhere.

Xbox has remote play from a console too, through Profile & system > Settings > Devices & connections > Remote features with the power mode set to Sleep. Xbox Support says only one person at a time can play remotely and advises saving often, because a dropped connection can lose progress. The GTA VI listing on Xbox does not name remote play among its capabilities, so check it on your own console once the game is installed.

Step 6: if children share the console

Console sharing hands your copy to every profile on that console. GTA VI is rated PEGI 18 and ESRB Mature 17+, so on a family PS5 or a home Xbox, the age restriction has to come from parental controls rather than from who bought the game. PlayStation Support notes that if a padlock covers the whole game image, the family manager can change it.

The pre-order month of GTA+ has its own household rule. The Xbox Store says it is limited to "one redemption per Platform Account" and is "not available to child accounts with restrictions on age-restricted content".

Before you start the download

Set the sharing console first, sign in where you will play, and turn on save sync. Then pre-load on that console. The age, spending and chat limits are in our PS5 and Xbox parental controls guide, and the space you will need is in how to make room for GTA 6. What GTA VI needs from your connection and accounts is answered in does GTA 6 need internet, an account or a subscription?.