GTA 6 Preorder Sales Suggest a Record Nobody Can Touch

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Published Nov 13, 2026, 11:09 AM EST

Austin Manchester is a writer and editor living in New York City. At Polygon, he covers gaming and entertainment news, reviews new video games, interviews behind-the-scenes talent, and more. He enjoys discovering hidden gems and sharing them with Polygon's audience. Previously, he was the gaming editor for AIPT Comics and has written for other outlets like XDA, How-To Geek, and The List.

He enjoys soulslikes, character-driven RPGs, and third-person shooters plucked straight out of the Xbox 360 era. He also likes to flex his non-video game nerdy knowledge sometimes, whether that's explaining who's who in the new Wolverine game or recommending a comic book series about a sentient sword.

It keeps raking in the dough before it's even out

Grand Theft Auto 6 is out next week on Nov. 19. It'll only be available digitally, but that hasn't stopped people from preordering. In fact, they've been preordering Rockstar's next open-world adventure in record numbers. New preorder sales estimates peg GTA 6 as having already made over $1 billion in revenue.

According to market analysis firm Sensor Tower, GTA 6 has already sold an estimated 12.13 million copies. Those sales have generated an estimated $1.18 billion in revenue. That makes the average price of each sale about $97, meaning the majority of players are opting for the more expensive Ultimate Edition ($99.99) rather than the standard edition ($79.99). All these preorders have made GTA 6 the most-preordered game for both the PlayStation and Xbox stores. Earlier this month, estimates put GTA 6 at just under 8 million copies sold and $751 million in revenue, meaning its sales spiked in a very short amount of time.

Sensor Tower's estimates show a pretty wide split between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X copies sold. PS5 copies account for about 75% of the estimated sales, or 9.08 million copies and $880 million in revenue. That's not surprising as the PlayStation 5 has outsold the Xbox Series X and S this generation, and PlayStation has been marketing GTA 6 hard. It will even have exclusive PS5 Pro features.

GTA 6 is hurting sales of Take-Two's other hit game

All the attention on GTA 6's launch has hurt other sales across the entire industry. That includes Rockstar's parent company Take-Two's other fall tentpole release, NBA 2K27, which failed to meet expectations. The basketball sim is still one of the top-performing games of the year.

Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on Thursday, Nov. 19. It will have a rolling midnight launch on PS5 and will be playable starting at 1 a.m. EST on Xbox Series X.

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