Xbox Series X or Series S for GTA VI? This one is not close

Unlike the PlayStation decision, where the gap between the PS5 and PS5 Pro is genuinely small for GTA VI, the gap between the Xbox Series X and Series S is substantial. If you are going to play GTA VI on Xbox and you have a choice, the answer is the Series X. Here is why.

The hardware: the Series X has 12 TFLOPS of graphics power, an eight-core Zen 2 CPU at 3.8 GHz, 16 GB of memory and a 1 TB drive of which roughly 800 GB is usable. The Series S has 4 TFLOPS, Zen 2 at 3.6 GHz, 10 GB of memory of which around 8 GB is available to games, and a 512 GB drive of which only about 360 GB is usable. One third of the graphics power and two thirds of the memory.

That is not merely a difference of degree. The Series X targets 4K, the Series S 1440p. In an ordinary game that means lower resolution and slightly less detail. In a game the size of GTA VI it means something deeper: the memory ceiling governs how much of the world can be held at once.

What Digital Foundry projects — and note, this is analysis, not confirmation. Digital Foundry has estimated GTA VI will run at around 720p on the Series S, against roughly 1440p on PS5 and Series X. The reason is usable memory: 8 GB on Series S against 12.5 GB on PS5 and 13 GB on Series X. They also consider it likely that ray-traced reflections will be disabled entirely on Series S — no small thing in a city built out of glass, water and neon. The frame rate target is expected to be 30, with a 60 fps mode unlikely.

Rockstar has confirmed the Series S as a supported platform. It has published no performance figure for it whatsoever.

Storage is the more concrete problem. Rockstar has not given a file size, but estimates based on comparable games and the scale of the map land between 150–180 GB for the base install, and 200–250 GB once the day-one patch arrives. On a 512 GB Series S — with roughly 360 GB usable — one game would eat well over half the drive. On a Series X with 800 GB usable it is about a quarter. If you own a 512 GB Series S and intend to buy GTA VI, you realistically need an expansion card or you need to delete almost everything else.

The prices, updated 1 August 2026. Microsoft raised prices sharply, considerably more than Sony did in April: the 512 GB Series S now costs 499.99 dollars or 499.99 euros, the 1 TB Series S 599.99, the Series X Digital 749.99 and the Series X with a drive 799.99. For comparison, the Series S cost 399.99 dollars in May 2025. The increase reaches 50% in euros. The 2 TB Galaxy Black edition was discontinued.

In Iceland the situation is murky, and it is worth saying so plainly. ELKO lists both the Series X and Series S as sold out and discontinued, at old pre-increase prices. Those figures are no longer valid and we will not publish them as current. Tölvutek carries both machines in its catalogue but its prices only render in a browser. If you are looking for an Xbox in Iceland right now, calling Tölvutek is probably the fastest route: 563 6900 in Reykjavík, 430 6900 in Akureyri. For reference, 799.99 euros corresponds to roughly 113,000 ISK before any Icelandic retail margin.

Does the disc drive matter? No, not for this game. GTA VI ships on no disc in any edition — the box contains a download code. The 749.99 dollar Series X Digital therefore does exactly the same job as the 799.99 dollar version with a drive as far as GTA VI is concerned, and saves you 50 dollars.

The verdict: Series X if you are playing GTA VI on Xbox. The Series S remains a perfectly good machine for plenty of other things, but for this particular game it looks likely to give ground on both resolution and storage. If a Series S is your only option, take the 1 TB model at minimum.

Sources: Microsoft, Pure Xbox, Variety, CNBC, Digital Foundry (via GTA BOOM), Sportskeeda, Best Buy, elko.is and tolvutek.is.