GTA 6 Passes an Estimated $1 Billion in Pre-Orders a Week Before Launch

An estimated $1 billion — before launch day

Grand Theft Auto VI has passed an estimated $1 billion in pre-orders a week before it launches, according to Sensor Tower’s GTA VI tracker, updated November 11. The tracker estimates about 10.31 million digital pre-orders across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, worth about $1 billion net of returns, with the chart running to November 9. The split is about 7.73 million on PS5 (about $751 million, about 75%) versus about 2.58 million on Xbox (about $250 million, about 25%). The same numbers are reported by GameSpot, GamesBeat, Insider Gaming, TweakTown, Tech-ish and EarlyLoot. Sensor Tower’s Karl Kontus expects about 25 million pre-purchases by launch.

What the $97 average says

Divide the estimated revenue by the estimated copies and the average selling price is about $97 — much closer to the $99.99 premium edition than the $79.99 standard edition, which is why Sensor Tower’s figures point to most early buyers picking the premium edition. That reading comes from Notebookcheck and Barron’s, working from Sensor Tower’s tracker; it is still an estimate, not a publisher breakdown. Take-Two declined to comment on the third-party data, and CEO Strauss Zelnick told Barron’s on November 9 that pre-orders are “trending well above our expectations.”

Estimated, not official

Every number in that paragraph is an estimate. Rockstar and Take-Two have published no pre-order figures at all, and the tracker counts digital orders only — boxed copies are not included, pre-orders can still be cancelled, and Sensor Tower does not disclose how it arrives at its numbers. What the platform holders have said, without numbers: Sony calls GTA 6 the most pre-ordered game in PlayStation Store history; Xbox calls it the most pre-ordered title of all time on the Microsoft Store; and Take-Two said on November 9 that pre-orders are tracking “far in excess” of expectations and that development is complete.

The launch week around it

The launch itself is November 19 at midnight local, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only — there is no PC version. Digital pre-load has been open since November 10 and the download is 200+ GB (207.7 GB per GamesBeat, up to 212 GB); boxed copies reach retailers November 12. Around the launch, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced a new 10-year partnership with Take-Two on November 10, using GTA 6 as the announcement vehicle, and Rockstar reshared an Only in Dade Instagram clip of first-person gameplay driving down Ocean Drive to its own Instagram Story on November 11. Microsoft also confirmed on November 10 that GTA 6 will be playable through Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S from November 19 at 1:00 AM ET — Xbox One owners stream the game at Xbox Series S graphics settings, and the game must be bought separately.

What it means for buyers

Pre-orders are open at $79.99 / $99.99, and the buyer move is the download, not the decision: start the 200+ GB pre-load now so the game is ready at midnight on November 19, and expect boxed copies in shops from November 12. Do not pay a premium for a pre-order listing — the game is still on sale at the standard price from the platform stores. Xbox One owners can only play at launch by streaming through Xbox Cloud Gaming from 1:00 AM ET on November 19 — the game still has to be bought separately. See the GTA 6 page for the verified sellers listed there.

Games in this story

GTA 6