GTA 6 Xbox leak hints at display and audio features PlayStation users won't get as preload goes live

The big day is finally here, and we're in the end zone for the next Grand Theft Auto. It's been 13 years since GTA V raced into our lives and changed the world of video games forever.

Becoming the most profitable entertainment product of all time, GTA V's success has been propped up by GTA Online and the fact that it still makes over $1 million a day.

The bar is in the stratosphere when it comes to GTA VI, but with it supposedly making $751 million in preorders alone, and tipped to make $5 billion in its first week alone, something tells us Rockstar Games will be just fine.

GTA VI has inadvertently reignited the gaming wars, with a fierce debate over whether PlayStation or Xbox is the ultimate way to play. Now, a physical copy leak has potentially crowned Xbox as the winner.

How could GTA VI be better on Xbox than PlayStation?

There's been a lot of chatter about the PlayStation 5 Pro being the definitive way to play GTA VI, with the upcoming automotive adventure even boasting a 'PS5 Pro Enhanced' label on the PS Store. Sony has done a massive marketing push to promote its souped-up credentials, and we've seen accusations of scalping as PS5 Pro console prices have soared well beyond their $900 MSRP.

We already covered how your base console can get something of a PS5 Pro-inspired boost thanks to a few simple changes, while the addition of FSR 4.1 could give the Xbox Series family its own mid-generation refresh, but that's only if Rockstar decides to add it to GTA VI.

Continuing the good news for the green team, a GTA VI box leak seemingly reveals that the game will support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on Xbox. Whereas the PlayStation 5 version relies on standard HDR10, Dolby Vision produces more accurate colors.

Basically, premium TVs that support Dolby Vision can use frame-by-frame dynamic metadata to automatically balance peak brightness and make those vibrant neon signs of Vice City really pop.

Elsewhere, PlayStation relies on its Tempest 3D Audio engine that can pass a Dolby Atmos signal over HDMI to an external soundbar, meaning it's converted instead of being a native part, and there can be some spatial translation gaps.

Xbox treats Dolby Atmos as a native system-wide audio engine that maps objects into a 3D space, optimizing it for home cinema setups.

What do you need to know about GTA 6 preloads?

Chances are that you already have your console of choice by now, and with just nine days to go (at the time of writing), you can officially preload GTA VI ahead of November 19. Both PlayStation and Xbox will require 212 GB of storage, so you'd better start clearing out those games you haven't played in a while.

GTA VI preloads were originally penciled in for November 12, but giving us a bit of extra time to prepare ourselves, they're going live on November 10.

This means anyone who has pre-ordered a digital copy of the game will be able to download it and jump straight back into Vice City when GTA VI goes live on November 19.

Whereas PlayStation owners have a staggered regional rollout from 12:00 AM local time on 10 November, Xbox went with a global simultaneous launch from 12:00 AM GMT.

For physical copy owners, copies are supposed to start shipping or arriving from November 12, meaning you can preload via the code inside your box.

There's plenty of time to get yourselves ready for the GTA VI launch, but make sure you don't miss the boat on what could be the biggest entertainment launch of all time.