Grand Theft Auto 6 launches in six days on November 19, with preloading now live and the game already the most pre-ordered game in the history of PlayStation Store, Sony confirmed in a blog post on November 10. Microsoft calls it the most preordered title of all time on the Microsoft Store, and the launch will roll region by region, starting at midnight on November 19 in New Zealand.
Why it matters
The numbers behind the record are striking. Analytics firm Sensor Tower estimates the game has been preordered 9.69 million times across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, generating about 942 million dollars in revenue as of November 10. That passes the record held by Cyberpunk 2077, which crossed eight million preorders ahead of its December 2020 launch.
Most early demand is landing on the 99.99 dollar Ultimate Edition rather than the 79.99 dollar Standard Edition, a sign that the audience is buying the premium version before the reviews arrive. On Xbox, the game will be playable on day one through cloud gaming on Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S, starting at 1 a.m. Eastern Time.
What happens next
There is one caveat for players. Rockstar has confirmed the game is locked at 30 frames per second, even on the PlayStation 5 Pro, to keep quality consistent across platforms. The studio says the game was built from the ground up for current generation consoles, pushing both platforms to their limits to bring the world of Leonida to life.
For Take-Two, the record is the payoff for years of waiting. The publisher has repeated its fiscal 2027 outlook of 8.0 to 8.2 billion dollars in net bookings, and the launch is what the next quarter is built on. Whether the game lives up to the record will be decided on November 19, when reviews and player counts replace preorder math.
The launch will also mark the start of a 10 year strategic partnership between Xbox and Take-Two. Players who preorder before November 19 at 11:59 p.m. receive the Vintage Vice City Pack, and the game is a single player experience. The Ultimate Edition at 99.99 dollars has drawn most of the early demand, ahead of the 79.99 dollar Standard Edition.
