GTA VI Launches Nov. 19 as Preorders Top 12 Million, Sensor Tower Says
Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto VI arrives Nov. 19 after two delays, with record preorders and ripple effects expected from Twitch to office calendars.
Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most anticipated entertainment releases in years, goes on sale Nov. 19 with preorders running at record levels. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower estimated more than 12 million preorders through Nov. 13, CNBC reported, and analysts expect the game’s pull to reach well beyond the video game industry, into live streaming, workplace attendance, food delivery and even tourism.
What happened
The game, which was delayed twice before landing on its current date, will launch on Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S. The standard edition costs $79.99 and an Ultimate Edition sells for $99.99, according to The Next Web. Players who ordered digital copies were able to begin pre-loading the game onto their consoles on Nov. 10 so they can start playing as soon as it unlocks.
Sensor Tower’s estimates have climbed quickly in the final weeks before release. The firm counted about 7.71 million digital preorders as of early November, a figure first reported by Reuters, and roughly 9.69 million by Nov. 10, worth an estimated $942 million, according to the gaming news site GTA Boom. Those figures are third-party estimates rather than official numbers, and the earlier counts covered digital console orders only. Take-Two Interactive, the New York-based publisher that owns Rockstar, has not disclosed a preorder total.
Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two’s chairman and chief executive, has repeatedly said demand is beating the company’s own forecasts. He told CNBC that “our expectations were high and they are being vastly exceeded so far.” On the company’s Nov. 9 earnings call, he struck a more cautious tone, saying Take-Two tends to avoid claiming success before it occurs, The Next Web reported. Zelnick also told the gaming site IGN that the game will not be delayed again.
Why it matters
The stakes for Take-Two are large. Eric Handler, an analyst at investment bank Roth, estimated that development cost more than $1 billion, CNBC reported. Take-Two kept its forecast for net bookings, a measure of sales, at $8 billion to $8.2 billion for the fiscal year ending in March 2027, a target that rests largely on the new game. It expects $3.35 billion to $3.5 billion in bookings for the October-to-December quarter alone. Morgan Stanley has forecast 40 million copies sold by March 2027.
The company’s most recent quarter showed why the launch is so important. Net bookings for July through September fell 18% to $1.6 billion, below analyst expectations, according to The Next Web, while the net loss narrowed to $54 million.
Analysts and companies are also watching the game’s effect on other businesses:
- Streaming and creators: Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V, released 13 years ago, still ranks among the five most-watched games on Twitch, Amazon’s live-streaming platform, this year. Mike Minton, Twitch’s chief product officer, told CNBC the opportunity extends well past launch day.
- Time off: HR software company BambooHR found paid time-off requests for Nov. 19 running nearly 13% above the same day in 2024 and 2025. Logitech is giving its 7,000 employees the day off, Fortune reported.
- Food delivery and travel: Consulting firm PwC has projected a jump in delivery orders from gamers staying home and a possible tourism boost for Miami, which inspired the game’s setting.
Not every industry stands to gain. Bart Spiegel, who leads PwC’s global entertainment and media sector, told CNBC the game could draw viewers away from video streaming services, and said analysts may cite it to explain weaker streaming results in early 2027.
What comes next
Xbox players without the newest hardware will also have a way in. The game will stream through Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft’s game-streaming service, to Xbox Series X|S and older Xbox One consoles starting at 1 a.m. Eastern time on launch day. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described the arrangement on X as the first step in a new 10-year strategic partnership with Take-Two. Xbox has said the game is the most preordered title ever on the Microsoft Store.
Whether early demand translates into the sales Wall Street expects will become clearer in the weeks after release. For comparison, Grand Theft Auto V sold 29 million copies in its first six weeks and has since passed 200 million, according to GTA Boom. Rockstar declined CNBC’s request for an interview.
