Key facts
- Experts predict the U.S. economy will take a roughly $1 billion hit in lost productivity on Grand Theft Auto VI's release day because so many workers plan to take leave or call out sick.
- Montalvo pegged the average salary at $70,000 and forecast a 2% productivity dip, producing an estimated cost of around $1 billion to employers in a single day.
- Thousands of workers are banking paid time off or planning to call in sick for launch day, and some companies are building November 19 into end-of-year packages as a perk.
- Over the summer, one company in California preemptively scaled back operations on Grand Theft Auto VI's release day.
Experts project roughly $1 billion in lost U.S. productivity on November 19, 2026, when Grand Theft Auto VI releases. Workers plan to take leave or call out sick for the game’s debut. The estimate covers a single day of absences tied to the launch.
Grand Theft Auto VI comes out November 19, 2026, which falls on a Thursday. The timing is less than ideal for people with typical jobs who must wait for the weekend to fully play. The New York Post attributes the November 19 date to a report by Spanish broadcaster Cadena SER.
José García Montalvo, who teaches economics at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, estimates that 1.5 million people in the United States will skip work on November 19 to play Grand Theft Auto VI. He pegged the average salary at $70,000. He forecast a 2% productivity dip, producing an estimated cost of around $1 billion to employers in a single day.
The Wall Street Journal put potential lost economic output at more than $1 billion, with an estimated 1.5 million people possibly taking time off for the release.
Thousands of workers are banking paid time off or planning to call in sick for launch day, and some companies are building November 19 into end-of-year packages as a perk. Vice City, the game’s fictional Miami setting, is where many employees plan to spend the day. OutKick reported that so many people have already lined up sick days for November 19 and 20 that the trend is making national news about a month before the game comes out.
A SportsInsider.com map built from more than 300,000 geotagged X posts over 30 days ranked Florida first for Grand Theft Auto VI-related paid-time-off discussions. Nevada, Kentucky, West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia followed in the ranking.
The head of an Army battalion stationed in Georgia dangled a four-day pass coinciding with the game’s debut to try to boost reenlistments. Some U.S. Army units have offered extended leave as a re-enlistment incentive tied to Grand Theft Auto VI’s launch.
Over the summer, one company in California preemptively scaled back operations on Grand Theft Auto VI’s release day.
Rockstar is turning the city of Miami into a giant billboard for Grand Theft Auto VI, which takes place in the fictional Vice City, a parody of real-life South Florida. Players will dive into the world of Leonida.
Take-Two Interactive said Grand Theft Auto VI would lead the way as it expects operating cash flow of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year. SensorTower’s GTA preorder tracker projects that Take-Two has already taken in nearly $600 million in revenue from preorders.
When Grand Theft Auto V launched in 2013, an IGN survey of nearly 11,000 readers found 46% had already taken the day off and nearly 20% planned to call in sick that morning. On that release weekend, 6% of the population between 18 and 35 missed work in New York City and Los Angeles, according to Cadena SER.
Cadena SER also estimated that 5% of American employees missed work when the final Harry Potter movie reached U.S. theaters in July 2011. Avengers: Endgame’s 2019 opening weekend cost the United States nearly $3 billion in lost productivity, roughly three times the Grand Theft Auto VI projection. March Madness accounted for around $12 billion in lost productivity, a larger figure than the projected Grand Theft Auto VI impact.
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