Sensor Tower puts Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders at 7.71 million

Sensor Tower estimated on November 3 that Grand Theft Auto 6 reached 7.71 million pre-ordered digital units worth about $751 million, two weeks before its November 19, 2026 launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Source IDs: GamesIndustry.biz, GamingBolt, Tbreak Media UAE.

Neither Rockstar Games nor parent company Take-Two has confirmed the reported pre-order numbers, and the figures are third-party estimates of digital pre-orders only, excluding physical copies bought through retailers, so actual numbers are likely higher. Sensor Tower’s tracker stood at 6.45 million copies and roughly $630 million as of October 20, up from just over 6 million and about $594 million on October 13. Source IDs: TweakTown, TechSpot, Tbreak Media UAE.

PlayStation 5 accounts for 74 percent of pre-orders, about $559 million, while Xbox Series X|S represents 26 percent and about $192 million. Source IDs: GamesIndustry.biz, GamingBolt, TweakTown, TechSpot, Tbreak Media UAE.

Retail tracking shows Grand Theft Auto 6 holding the top three pre-order positions on PlayStation 5 in regions including the UK, led by the $100 Ultimate Edition, followed by the $80 Standard Edition and the $20 Ultimate Edition upgrade pack. On the US PlayStation Store the game held the top two spots until recently, when the upgrade pack fell to fourth behind the Collector’s Edition of the upcoming Final Fantasy 14 expansion; TheGamer’s author expects it to return to third place.

Sensor Tower reported in August that 89 percent of pre-orders were for the $100 Ultimate Edition, compared with 11 percent for the $80 Standard Edition. The standard edition is priced at $79.99 and the ultimate edition at $99.99, with a premium collector’s set at $399.99 that does not include a copy of the game. Source IDs: GamesIndustry.biz, TechSpot.

Sensor Tower analysis published last month found pre-orders 148 percent ahead of 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at this point from launch, though the analysis did not cover boxed releases. Since the last Insider Gaming update reported earlier in October, the game added more than $100 million and close to 1.3 million pre-order units. The launch trailer drew nearly 60 million views in less than a week, which TweakTown says likely assisted in pushing pre-order numbers higher. Source IDs: GamesIndustry.biz, Tbreak Media UAE, TweakTown.

Actual preorders might land more in the 25 million ballpark.

Karl Kontus, GamesIndustry.biz

Karl Kontus, SVP and GM of Video Game Insights at Sensor Tower, said that under normal preorder trajectories four million preorders would reach 40 million plus at launch, but that actual preorders might land around 25 million, worth circa $2 billion, comparing the potential total to Cyberpunk 2077’s eight million preorders by launch. Source IDs: GamesIndustry.biz.

Piper Sandler previously estimated that Rockstar might sell north of 45 million copies of Grand Theft Auto VI at launch. Newzoo estimated that Grand Theft Auto 6 generated $260 million globally during the first week of pre-orders in July and projected a 17.5 percent increase in full game spending in 2026 because of the game; Newzoo also expects close to $5.2 billion in launch week, comparing that with Grand Theft Auto 5’s approximately $800 million in the first 24 hours in 2013 and $1 billion in three days. Source IDs: TechSpot, GamesIndustry.biz, Tbreak Media UAE.

GamingBolt reports that Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball said in September that Xbox was very happy with Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders, that the title was breaking records for Xbox, and that internal analysis showed Xbox’s pre-order share matching its console market share. Tbreak Media UAE notes that both perspectives can coexist and that a 26 percent share would be a Rockstar record for Xbox only if the console base is small enough. Source IDs: GamingBolt, Tbreak Media UAE.

Rockstar announced that digital pre-loading begins on November 10 and that players need 212 GB of storage space to download the game, with pre-loading requiring a digital pre-order or purchase. Code-in-box copies are expected at retailers from November 12. In the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, PlayStation 5 pre-loading starts at midnight local time while Xbox Series X|S unlocks at 12am GMT, or 4am in the UAE, 3am in Saudi Arabia and 2am in Egypt. Source IDs: GamingBolt, Tbreak Media UAE.

Sony signed a marketing deal with Rockstar Games, and the Grand Theft Auto 6 Extended Look showcase from August included a logo indicating the gameplay footage was recorded off a base PlayStation 5; GamingBolt says those factors likely contributed to PlayStation’s pre-order lead. Competing studios adjusted launch schedules to avoid the same window, and at one military base soldiers were reportedly offered time off to play the game in exchange for reenlisting. Market intelligence coverage describes Grand Theft Auto VI as expected to be the biggest video game launch of 2026 and possibly the most successful entertainment launch in history. Source IDs: GamingBolt, TechSpot.

Grand Theft Auto V has sold 230 million copies, and TheGamer’s author expects Grand Theft Auto 6 could potentially match that total in less than 13 years. The 7.71 million pre-orders already exceed the 6 million copies Crimson Desert sold in less than three months and equal about half of the 15 million Meccha Chameleon sold to become 2026’s best-selling game.

Grand Theft Auto 6 runs on the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), a game engine, and is categorized as Action and Adventure. The game is set in the fictional state of Leonida, based on Florida, and Rockstar has been working on it for over a decade as the sequel to Grand Theft Auto V, which arrived in 2013. Rockstar announced that more details will be revealed closer to release, with speculation pointing to additional gameplay and possibly PlayStation 5 Pro performance information, and head of development Aaron Garbutt said players can have their life in the game through activities such as buying cigarettes and beer or going to a club. Source IDs: TheGamer, TechSpot, GamingBolt.

Delays to other PlayStation 5 titles, including Forza Horizon 6 moving to 2027 and God of War Laufey receiving an unexpected three-month delay, likely slowed their pre-order pacing, with both games remaining behind Grand Theft Auto 6, Shrek 2 Remastered and Evercold on the charts.