TL;DR
Sensor Tower estimates that GTA VI had 10.31 million pre-orders worth about $1 billion as of November 11, eight days before its scheduled release. Sony and Take-Two have confirmed strong demand but have not published a total; the estimate’s counting method is not public.
Grand Theft Auto VI had an estimated 10.31 million pre-orders worth about $1 billion by November 11, according to market research firm Sensor Tower, eight days before its scheduled release. The figure is an outside estimate: publisher Take-Two Interactive has not reported a pre-order total, though Sony says the game is the most pre-ordered title in PlayStation Store history.
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GameSpot reported Sensor Tower’s estimate as 7.73 million pre-orders on PlayStation 5, valued at about $751 million, and 2.58 million on Xbox Series X|S, valued at about $250 million. The figures add up to the reported 10.31 million copies and roughly $1 billion in gross revenue. Sensor Tower has forecast as many as 25 million total pre-purchases by launch, but that is a projection, not a confirmed result.
Sony confirmed the record without giving a count. In a November 10 PlayStation Blog post, the company said GTA VI was “now the most pre-ordered game in the history of PlayStation Store.” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick also described pre-orders as “tracking far in excess of our initial expectations.” Neither statement verifies Sensor Tower’s total.
The estimated revenue divided by the estimated number of copies is about $97 per copy, a calculation based on Sensor Tower’s figures. That is close to the US PlayStation Store price of $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition, but the estimate does not disclose how many buyers chose each edition. The Standard Edition is listed at $79.99.
A Record Sized Launch on the Line
If the estimate is close, GTA VI is approaching a scale rarely seen before a game reaches players. Take-Two’s last comparable milestone was for GTA V: the company said in 2013 that the game generated more than $1 billion in worldwide retail sales in its first three days on sale. That was a post-launch sales figure, while Sensor Tower’s GTA VI figure is an estimate of pre-orders. The measures differ, so they do not establish a direct record comparison.
The launch also sits at the center of Take-Two’s near-term financial outlook. For the October-to-December 2026 quarter, which includes the release, the company forecast net bookings of $3.35 billion to $3.5 billion, compared with $1.76 billion a year earlier. Bookings are the company’s measure of sales activity; the forecast covers its broader business, not GTA VI alone.
For players, the immediate details are concrete: the game is scheduled for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with no PC release date announced in the source material. The reported download size is up to 212 GB, and the source says physical boxed editions do not include a disc. These requirements and platform limits shape how buyers can access the release.
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What the Earlier Estimates Show
Sensor Tower’s earlier estimate, published in August and reported by GameSpot, put pre-orders through July 20 at 3.15 million on PlayStation and 930,000 on Xbox, with combined net revenue of $395 million. Its November estimate is substantially higher, though the source material does not provide enough information about the tracker’s methods to independently compare the periods or assess its precision.
Sensor Tower has cited other major game launches for context. It said GTA V had seven million pre-orders in 2013, while Cyberpunk 2077 was reported to have eight million pre-orders in 2020 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 more than 6.5 million in 2011. Those figures come from different releases and reporting methods; they should not be treated as a standardized ranking.
Take-Two’s November 9 earnings report described a mixed quarter. Net bookings fell 18% to $1.60 billion in its fiscal second quarter. Zelnick said NBA 2K27 was below the company’s forecast for the period, while the Grand Theft Auto series exceeded it. Take-Two kept its full-year fiscal 2027 net bookings outlook at $8.0 billion to $8.2 billion.
“Grand Theft Auto VI is now the most pre-ordered game in the history of PlayStation Store.”
— Sony, in a November 10 PlayStation Blog post
The Pre-Order Count Is Unverified
Take-Two has not released an official pre-order figure, and Sensor Tower has not published enough detail in the cited material to explain how its tracker calculates the total. A report by tech site tech-ish also questioned whether the estimate includes boxed copies. The figure is therefore best treated as an outside estimate of orders across PlayStation and Xbox, rather than a company-confirmed worldwide count.
The editions behind the revenue total are also unclear. The roughly $97 average implied by the estimate is a simple calculation, not evidence that buyers largely selected the Ultimate Edition. It is not clear how the tracker treats taxes, refunds, regional prices, or orders that may later be canceled. The reported comparison with GTA V also uses different measures: estimated pre-order value before release for GTA VI and retail sales after release for GTA V.
Release-day sales, the final pre-order total, and any official breakdown by platform or edition remain unknown in the source material. Sensor Tower’s projection of up to 25 million pre-purchases by launch has not yet been confirmed.
Launch Week Will Test the Estimate
GTA VI is scheduled to release on November 19, 2026, for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The launch will provide the first opportunity to compare the pre-release estimate with reported sales after players can buy and play the game.
Take-Two is expected to discuss results for the launch quarter in a later earnings update, but the source material does not give a date for an official pre-order or launch-sales disclosure. Until the publisher supplies figures and methodology, Sensor Tower’s total and its projected launch count remain estimates.
Key Questions
Has Take-Two confirmed that GTA VI pre-orders reached $1 billion?
No. The $1 billion figure is Sensor Tower’s estimate. Take-Two has said pre-orders are above its initial expectations but has not published a total.
How many GTA VI pre-orders does Sensor Tower estimate?
Sensor Tower estimates 10.31 million copies as of November 11, 2026: 7.73 million on PS5 and 2.58 million on Xbox Series X|S, according to figures reported by GameSpot.
When is GTA VI scheduled to be released?
The game is scheduled for November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The source material provides no PC release date.
Does the $1 billion estimate prove GTA VI has beaten GTA V’s launch record?
No direct comparison is established. The GTA VI number is an estimated pre-order value before release; Take-Two said GTA V passed $1 billion in worldwide retail sales during its first three days on sale in 2013. The measures and timing differ.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
