GTA 6 Presales Are Crushing Take-Two's Plans as the Preload Goes Live
Vice City is sold out. Please form an orderly line.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is selling even better than its own publisher expected. In its earnings report on November 9, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said "preorders for Grand Theft Auto VI are tracking far in excess of our initial expectations," according to the earnings call transcript.
The timing is perfect, because the GTA 6 preload opens today on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. For everything else about the game, our GTA 6 everything we know guide has the full rundown.
What did Take-Two say about GTA 6?
Take-Two's official earnings release says preorders are "continuing to reach unprecedented levels," but the company still isn't sharing an actual number. It did confirm its forecast of $8 billion to $8.2 billion in net bookings for the fiscal year, which ends in March, and most of that is riding on GTA 6.
For the holiday quarter alone, Take-Two expects between $3.35 billion and $3.5 billion. For comparison, the company brought in $1.6 billion last quarter, so GTA 6 is expected to roughly double its business in a single launch window.
When does the GTA 6 preload start?
On PS5, preloading opens at midnight local time on November 10, so it rolls out across the world one time zone at a time. On Xbox Series X|S, it started at the same moment everywhere, 12 a.m. GMT on November 10. You'll need 212GB of free space, so this is an excellent time to say goodbye to a few older games.
The game itself launches on November 19, and Take-Two only listed the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions in its earnings materials. On the call, Zelnick added that "any information about new SKUs and the like will always come from our labels," which means a PC version is still entirely up to Rockstar.
How are GTA 5 and Take-Two's other games doing?
GTA 5 isn't slowing down even though its long-awaited sequel is only nine days away, and Zelnick said "the title has sold nearly 235 million units worldwide," which keeps it among the best-selling games ever made.
NBA 2K27 had a rougher quarter. Zelnick said it posted the second-best net bookings in the history of the series and has sold more than 4 million copies, but it still landed "below our forecast for the period." Insider Gaming connected that miss to so many players saving their money for GTA 6.
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My read is that "far in excess" is about as close as a public company gets to shouting from the rooftops. Take-Two usually chooses its words carefully on these calls, so hearing it get this excited nine days before launch says a lot. (Somebody please check on everyone's storage space.)
Did you preorder GTA 6, or are you waiting for reviews? Tell us in the comments.
