Grand Theft Auto VI has become the most pre-ordered game in the history of both PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store, nine days before it launches. Sony and Microsoft confirmed the records on 10 November, as pre-loading opened on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower now estimates that GTA 6 has sold about 9.69 million digital pre-orders across the two consoles, generating roughly $942 million in revenue.
If that estimate is right, Rockstar’s game has passed the 8 million pre-orders that CD Projekt reported for Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020, long regarded as the record.
Sony made its announcement in a PlayStation Blog post published at 15:41 UTC on 10 November. “Grand Theft Auto VI is now the most pre-ordered game in the history of PlayStation Store,” wrote Tim Turi, a content communications manager at Sony Interactive Entertainment. Microsoft used similar language on Xbox Wire, calling GTA 6 “the most pre-ordered title of all time on the Microsoft Store”. Neither company gave a figure, and Rockstar and Take-Two have not published pre-order numbers either.
What Sensor Tower’s 9.69 million GTA 6 estimate covers
The 9.69 million figure comes from Sensor Tower’s GTA VI Sales Tracker, which was last updated on 10 November. It counts estimated digital sales on PlayStation and Xbox, net of returns, so cancelled pre-orders and refunds have been taken out. By Sensor Tower’s numbers, PS5 accounts for 7.23 million copies and $703 million, while Xbox Series X|S accounts for 2.46 million copies and $239 million. That puts the platform split at 75% to 25%, almost exactly where it was a week ago.
The pace has picked up sharply in the final stretch. Sensor Tower’s snapshot for 3 November had GTA 6 at about 7.71 million pre-orders and $751 million, as we reported when pre-orders passed $750 million. That means close to 2 million copies were added in a single week, worth about $191 million in revenue. The revenue estimate also works out at roughly $97 per copy, closer to the $99.99 Ultimate Edition than the $79.99 standard edition, although the public tracker does not split sales by edition.
Why the Cyberpunk 2077 comparison is not quite like for like
CD Projekt’s figure was an official company disclosure rather than an estimate. In current report no. 64/2020, the Polish publisher said players had pre-ordered “over 8 million copies” of Cyberpunk 2077 by the end of 9 December 2020, a day before launch. That total drew on reports from digital platforms and physical distributors, and it included PC, where Cyberpunk sold strongly. GTA 6 is launching only on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and Sensor Tower’s figure leaves out physical copies entirely.
That makes the GTA 6 estimate a conservative one in some ways, because boxed copies sold through retailers are not counted. The game’s physical edition contains a download code rather than a disc, as we found when the first PS5 boxes reached stores, and those codes can be activated early to pre-load. Sensor Tower’s numbers are still third-party estimates, and Take-Two has not confirmed them. The comparison with Cyberpunk, which we looked at in more detail in our pre-order record breakdown, should be read with that in mind.
Take-Two calls GTA 6 demand unprecedented as launch nears
Take-Two has stuck to describing demand rather than counting it. In its second-quarter results on 9 November, chief executive Strauss Zelnick said that “with pre-orders continuing to reach unprecedented levels, we expect to deliver an historic year for our company”. The company kept its full-year Net Bookings forecast at $8.0 billion to $8.2 billion. Zelnick also hinted that the next Grand Theft Auto will not take as long, as we reported in our story on his GTA 7 comments.
The demand has already changed the launch plan. When Rockstar opened pre-orders on 25 June, its official announcement said digital pre-loading would begin on 12 November. Sony said it brought that forward to 10 November because of “this unprecedented demand”, and our pre-load guide covers the download size. Sony is also using a rolling midnight launch by country, which starts in New Zealand at 11:00 UTC on 18 November.
Xbox players have an extra option on launch day. Microsoft says GTA 6 will be playable through Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S from 06:00 UTC on 19 November, using Series S graphics settings when streamed. Sensor Tower’s own data shows how hard Rockstar and Take-Two are pushing the launch, with global ad spend up 72.6% from September to October. Linear television took 33% of that October spend, ahead of Facebook on 25% and streaming TV services on 18%.
