GTA 6 pre-orders top $1 billion as Hollywood eyes launch weekend

It’s been 13 years since Rockstar launched a new mainline Grand Theft Autoso there would always be a pretty big crowd for the next one. A week before launch, we have an idea of ​​how big this crowd will be.

Eight days before its release on November 19, GTA6 has already surpassed $1 billion in pre-orders, according to an estimate from market research firm Sensor Tower. The company also estimates that gamers around the world have pre-ordered more than 10 million digital copies for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. (About three out of four orders were for PS5, The Washington Post reported on November 11.) The previous match, GTA Vreached the same billion-dollar milestone three days after going on sale in 2013, according to publisher Take-Two Interactive.

Take-Two has yet to share its own pre-order tally for the sequel, though CEO Strauss Zelnick wrote in a statement Monday that orders were reaching “unprecedented levels.” Sony and Microsoft also said that it is already the most pre-ordered game in the history of their respective digital stores.

Rockstar opened pre-loads on November 10, so players can download the game before launch day.

The hype for GTA6 has been building for almost three years, since Rockstar released its first trailer in December 2023. It attracted over 90 million views on YouTube in 24 hours, setting a Guinness World Record, and had 302 million views as of November 11, 2026.

Rockstar gave fans more than trailers to watch while they waited. In August it was created Grand Theft Auto VI: An Expanded Previewa 27-minute preview made entirely from footage from the game, on Netflix before putting it on YouTube later today. The deployment also affected the music. The official album will be released alongside the game on November 19, and two days later, Rockstar and PlayStation will host a music festival in Miami with performances from Cardi B, Travis Scott, and Justice, who composed the game’s music.

Streamers have created their own entertainment from the countdown. IShowSpeed ​​reacted to the launch trailer on YouTube, garnering 1.7 million views, while Twitch streamer Kai Cenat returned to the series, spending over 130 hours playing five older series. RGT games.

Anticipation has reached such a level that Hollywood’s ears perked up. When Screen Engine and The Wrap asked people which upcoming movie, show, or game they were most interested in, GTA6 came in first for the sixth consecutive week, with 8.3 percent of mentions in the latest survey, ahead of Avengers: Apocalypse at 6.7 percent.

This is unfortunate data to see as an entertainment executive, especially considering The Hunger Games: Sunrise over the Harvest opens the next day, when new seasons of Yellow vests And Percy Jackson and the Olympians also first. All three arrive on a weekend when some fans have already taken time out in Vice City. “Hollywood should look at hours as carefully as dollars,” said Game Awards founder Geoff Keighley. The Hollywood Reporter.

By the way, when I say time off, I mean that literally. Some fans have already blocked these hours on their work schedule. As Mashable’s Amanda Yeo noted in September, a Thursday release means that two days of vacation can buy a four-day weekend to play the game, although some were already talking about taking a week or more off. HR software company BambooHR found that employees were requesting time off on November 19 at a rate 13% higher than for comparable days in 2024 and 2025. In a separate survey, 18% of employees said they planned to take their launch day to play.

As for workplaces, Logitech is giving its employees a day off to play a game of their choice, and its gaming division will be streaming from its San Jose headquarters on launch day. Even an Army unit at Fort Stewart, Georgia, reportedly offered eligible soldiers a four-day pass, effective upon discharge, if they re-enlisted before November 14.

By time Avengers: Apocalypse opens in December, the vacation days of launch day will be long gone. The question for Hollywood is how many people will still want to spend their precious free time in Vice City rather than watching TV or going to the movies. If pre-orders are any indication, there are quite a few.

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