After years and years of anticipation, GTA VI will finally ship this week. In fact, the game may have already pre-loaded on your console if you pre-ordered it. Regardless of whether you pre-load the game or download it later, it will take up a lot of storage.
Rockstar says you need up to 212GB free to pre-load GTA VI, depending on your device.
With the game being so large, you'll likely want additional storage so you can install GTA VI without clearing out other games to make space.
The good news is that the XBOX Series X and XBOX Series S support seamless storage expansion. The bad news is that stock of supported cards is extremely limited.
You may be able to find select individual XBOX storage cards in stock, but the only one I've been able to find available online consistently is the 2TB SANDISK Optimus GX C50 Xbox Storage Expansion Card.
Is the SANDISK Optimus GX C50 a good XBOX storage card?
The SANDISK Optimus GX C50 is the WD_BLACK C50 Storage Expansion Card under a new name. If you search for the old WD_BLACK card on SANDISK's website, you'll see a prompt explaining the change (shown above).
Regardless of the name, the performance of the card is excellent. The SANDISK Optimus GX C50 fully supports features like Xbox Quick Resume. You can quickly transfer games back and forth between the card and your console as well.
In short, using the SANDISK Optimus GX C50 should feel exactly like having a game stored directly on your XBOX Series X|S.
Unless you care about the graphics and logo on the card, you can take a deeper dive into the SANDISK Optimus GX C50 by reading our WD_BLACK C50 Storage Expansion Card review. I'll warn you that doing so may make you cry when you see the launch price of that card.
Is now a good time to buy XBOX storage?
If you haven't shopped for a console or gaming accessories for a while, you're likely shocked by the price of additional storage. The $479.99 price of the 2TB SANDISK Optimus GX C50 is more than an XBOX Series X cost just a few years ago if you found a good deal.
The XBOX Series X launched at $499.99, but for years it was easy to find one for less. Heck, Verizon used to literally give them away if you signed up for broadband. But like laptops and other gadgets, gaming devices have skyrocketed in price over the years due to the global component shortage.
So, through the twisted lens of current gaming prices, you could almost say that $479.99 is a "fair" price for 2TB of storage. Maybe a better way to say it would be to call it an "expected" price.
With GTA VI pre-loading on consoles starting November 10 and the game launching on November 19, now is the perfect time to expand the storage of your XBOX Series X|S.
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