Grand Theft Auto VI can start breaking records months before the game’s Nov. 19 release, as pre-orders open at midnight Thursday for the long-awaited new installment in the gangster saga.
On track to outsell any other cultural product this year – or in recorded history – the new title has fans salivating after a 13-year wait, prompting competing publishers to clear their schedules around the release date.
Finally getting hold of the game “doesn’t exactly feel like a real thing that would ever happen,” said Red Young, a 26-year-old Scotsman who has spent half his life waiting for American studio Rockstar Games to finish “GTA VI.”
“To know that we’ve made it this far … and I’m actually going to be able to play it, it’s borderline miraculous,” he added.
Players will be able to reserve a digital or physical copy of GTA VI online or in stores from midnight in their time zone on Thursday, Rockstar said, before it goes live on consoles later this year.
Rockstar also announced Wednesday that the new game would be priced $10 higher than the norm for top-tier titles, at $79.99 in the US, with an “Ultimate” edition offering bonus content such as weapons and vehicles selling for $99.99.
– Breaking all records –
“The full launch including pre-orders will be the biggest entertainment launch ever… bigger than any movie, TV series, concert or album,” said Piers Harding-Rolls of UK-based data firm Ampere Analysis.
Analysts at investment bank Piper Sandler expect about 45 million copies to move before the game hits the market.
That should put “GTA VI” on track to top the record for the fastest cultural product to reach a billion dollars in sales, set by its predecessor, “GTA V,” in just three days.
Harding-Rolls predicted that the arrival of the new game will also affect sales of game consoles, currently dampened by a global squeeze on memory chips that has driven up prices.
The expectations of the players are extremely high after the success of the previous episode in the long-running “GTA” series.
“GTA V” sold almost 230 million copies, making it the second best-selling game of all time, after “Minecraft”.
Although millions of fans have been kept busy with the multiplayer version of “GTA Online”, expectations for a true successor have been wild.
It wasn’t until 2023 that Rockstar released a trailer showing GTA VI.
The studio “is famously a very, very quiet company,” which has only served to fuel the hype, Young said.
Any alleged screenshot, statement or leak related to the upcoming title attracts furious scrutiny online.
Back-to-back release delays have also kept up the heat, from fall 2025 to May and then November of this year.
Multiple sources have estimated the game’s development costs at between $1 billion and $2 billion, making it the most expensive entertainment product in history – topping any movie ever made.
The developers have been building “GTA VI” for more than six years.
– Criminal dispute –
The action-adventure titles of the “GTA” saga set in a vast open world have immersed players in fictional high-definition cities heavily inspired by American metropolises.
Each game offers players a great degree of freedom to either undertake plot-advancing missions, or simply explore the world on foot or at the controls of a fleet of vehicles – with the option to erupt into fiery criminal mayhem at any time.
Story missions often involve illegal activities, ranging from theft to murder and drug trafficking.
The focus on crime has long created controversy surrounding the series, with some critics warning of its influence on young players.
All its titles are rated for players aged 18 and over according to Europe’s PEGI rating system.
“GTA VI” will be set in a world inspired by Miami and the surrounding state of Florida – already the background of the 2002 installment “Vice City”.
The two protagonists, Jason and Lucia, appear at least slightly inspired by the American outlaw couple Bonnie and Clyde, who have already been the subject of films and TV series.
