How to Play GTA VI on Two Xbox Consoles: Home Xbox and Offline Play

Make the Xbox your household uses most your home Xbox, and play on any other Xbox by signing in, online, with the account that bought GTA 6. You can have one home Xbox at a time. On it, everyone who signs in can play your digital games, even offline and when you aren’t signed in. On a second Xbox, your games work while you are signed in and connected.

Everything below comes from Xbox Support’s own pages. It is how Microsoft says digital licences work, not a workaround. On PlayStation, see our PS5 version of this guide.

What home Xbox does

Microsoft says making a console your home Xbox:

lets friends and family who sign in there use your games and content, even when you aren’t signed in
lets you play your digital games on it offline
shares your Xbox Game Pass benefits with anyone who signs in to it

When you first install a digital game on your home Xbox, the console gets a licence for it from the Xbox network. Microsoft says that licence is tied to the home Xbox and never expires unless you change your home console.

Microsoft also says a console becomes your home Xbox automatically when you add your account to it and don’t choose Lock it down during setup. If GTA 6 is going on a console you already use, it may be set already.

How to set or change your home Xbox

Sign in to the console with the account that bought GTA 6.
Press the Xbox button and go to Profile & system > Settings > General > Personalization > My home Xbox.
Select Make this my home Xbox. To remove it, select Make this my home Xbox and then Remove this as my home Xbox.

Microsoft’s rules for switching:

Confirmed You can only have one home Xbox at a time.
You can switch up to five times in any one-year period. Customer support can’t add more. If you hit the limit, the My home Xbox screen shows the next date you can change it.
Microsoft won’t change your home Xbox for you, but if you reset a console and remove everything, set it again.
If you have moved from an Xbox One to an Xbox Series X|S, make the new console your home Xbox.

Analysis With only five switches a year, pick the console that stays at home, not the one you might take on holiday.

What changes when you switch

Microsoft says that when you switch, your shared licences stop working for others on the old console. To let them keep playing there, you have to be signed in to it, online. Offline play also moves to the new home console. Downloading or launching a game on the new home Xbox registers its licence there for offline use.

Analysis After switching, start GTA 6 once on the new home console while it is online, so the licence is in place before you need to play offline.

Playing on the second Xbox

Microsoft says you can download and play your digital games on any Xbox without switching your home Xbox. On the second console:

Sign in with the account that bought GTA 6 and connect to the Xbox network.
Go to My games & apps > Games, highlight GTA 6, press the Menu button and select Install.
When it’s installed, select it and choose Play.

Things to know:

Microsoft says you always need to be signed in and connected to play digital games on a console that isn’t your home Xbox.
Everyone on that console can play your games while it is online and you are signed in to the Xbox network.
If you sign out and leave the game installed, others there can’t play it unless they own it too.
Microsoft says that if other people in your home want to play the same game with you on additional consoles, each console must have its own copy.

Disc or digital: why it matters less for GTA 6

On Xbox, a game disc carries its own licence and works on any console. GTA 6 is different.

Confirmed Rockstar says the physical version of GTA 6 contains a download code inside the box, and its store says a disc is not included. Once you redeem the code, the game sits on your Microsoft account like a digital purchase, so the home Xbox rules above apply to every copy. Our preload and download guide covers redeeming the code.

Family members with their own profiles

Give each person their own Xbox profile on the home console rather than sharing yours. With your console set as home Xbox, they can play GTA 6 from their own profile without buying a second copy. Microsoft adds that home console sharing doesn’t let them buy content with the credit card linked to your subscription.

Microsoft says some content can’t always be shared, such as pre-order bonuses and special edition content that can only be redeemed once, and in-game currency.
Not announced Rockstar hasn’t said whether the Vintage Vice City Pack or the Ultimate Edition extras carry over to other profiles on your home Xbox. See GTA 6 preorder bonuses and editions and price for what each includes.
Analysis GTA 6 is rated for mature players (rating details). Home Xbox sharing doesn’t lift the age filter on a child’s profile, so set up the Xbox parental controls before launch day.

Playing offline

Microsoft says digital games that support single player can be played offline on your home Xbox. Offline, you can save your progress, sign in to a profile that has signed in online before, and save clips and screenshots.

Some things still need a connection:

setting up the console for the first time
updating games, apps and the console
syncing game progress, and playing saves from a different Xbox
shopping, and online features such as multiplayer and cloud gaming

To go offline on purpose, press the Xbox button and go to Settings > General > Network settings > Go offline. Microsoft advises against this during a network or Xbox outage, because a console left online reconnects by itself as soon as it can.

Confirmed Rockstar calls GTA 6 a single player experience. The Xbox Store lists it as single player and notes that certain features may require an internet connection or a Rockstar Games account. Not announced Rockstar hasn’t said which features need a connection, or whether GTA 6 has to go online the first time you start it.

Analysis Start the game once while online after it unlocks, so any launch update installs before you rely on offline play.

Do you need Xbox Game Pass?

The Xbox Store listing for GTA 6 doesn’t list a Game Pass requirement. Not announced The store doesn’t show GTA 6 as part of Game Pass, and no subscription launch has been announced. See GTA 6 single player and online for what has been said about online.

Game Pass only comes into this if you share it. Microsoft says your home Xbox shares your Game Pass subscription with anyone who signs in to it, and on any other Xbox it is shared while you are signed in.

For the rest of the console checklist, from storage to automatic downloads, see GTA 6 launch day setup.

Common questions

Can a friend in another house play my copy?

Only while you are signed in on their console and it is online. Microsoft says your game won’t play there after you leave unless they own it too. You can only have one home Xbox, so their console can’t be a second one.

Why can’t my family play GTA 6 any more?

The likely reason is that the account that bought it has switched its home Xbox to another console. Microsoft says shared licences then stop working on the old one. Switch back, or sign in to the old console online with the buying account.

Can someone stop my console being made a home Xbox?

Yes. After creating an access PIN, an adult can go to Profile & system > Settings > System > Access restriction options and turn off Allow setting home Xbox, which otherwise lets anyone make that console their home Xbox.

Do saves move between my two Xbox consoles?

Microsoft says syncing game progress, and playing saves from a different Xbox, needs an online connection. Not announced Rockstar hasn’t said how GTA 6 handles saves. We will add it once the game is out.