GTA 6 Pre-Orders Reportedly Pass US$1 Billion, and Sony Confirms It’s the PS Store’s Biggest Ever

Take-Two wouldn’t give us a number on Monday, so someone else did. Market research firm Sensor Tower now estimates GTA 6 has made more than 1 billion US dollars from digital pre-orders, a week before it even comes out.

Sony has also gone official on its side of things. The PlayStation Blog says GTA 6 is now the most pre-ordered game in PlayStation Store history, and the PS5 itself has just passed 100 million consoles shipped. That’s a lot of bragging for a game Take-Two refused to put a number on.

The numbers

• Revenue: more than 1 billion US dollars in estimated digital pre-orders, according to Sensor Tower, as reported by Forbes and GamesBeat.
• Copies: about 10.31 million, and Forbes says that figure already strips out expected refunds and cancellations.
• Platform split: PlayStation makes up about 75% of the estimated sales and Xbox the other 25%, according to Sensor Tower.
• GTA 5 comparison: Sensor Tower says GTA 5 had 7 million pre-orders in 2013, sold 11 million at launch and hit 16 million by the end of its first week.
• Official word: Take-Two still hasn’t released a figure. Strauss Zelnick only said pre-orders were “tracking far above our initial expectations”, according to Forbes.

What Sony actually confirmed

Sensor Tower’s figures are estimates, not sales data, and the firm doesn’t explain how it builds them. Sony’s claims are the ones on the record.

• PS Store record: “Grand Theft Auto VI is now the most pre-ordered game in the history of PlayStation Store,” Sony said on the PlayStation Blog.
• 100 million PS5s: Sony’s business data page lists more than 100 million PS5s shipped to stores as of 10 November 2026. That’s sell-in, not consoles in homes.
• Launch timing: PlayStation is doing a rolling midnight launch by country, starting at 12am NZDT on Thursday 19 November in New Zealand. Aussies get it at midnight local time.
• Preload: it’s already open on PS5, and Sony is telling everyone to download it now rather than on the night. We covered what dataminers found in the preload earlier this week.

Where the analysts reckon it goes from here

Enders Analysis expects 30 to 35 million copies in GTA 6’s first year, with a breakout scenario of 50 to 60 million, according to GamesBeat. Forbes points out GTA 5 made 815.7 million US dollars in its first 24 hours back in 2013.

Investors are buying it. Take-Two shares rose more than 3% to 231.83 US dollars on Wednesday US time, Forbes reported, though they’re still down for the year.

Our take

A billion bucks in pre-orders for a game nobody outside Rockstar has played is absolutely mental, and also completely unsurprising. This is the one game every mate who “doesn’t really game anymore” is buying.

Take-Two going coy on Monday and then letting analysts and Sony do the chest-beating for it is peak publisher behaviour. And remember, all of this is for a game that’s locked to 30fps on every console, with PC players still left waiting.

Everything else is on our GTA 6 page. Pre-ordered, holding out, or waiting for PC like a patient saint? Come argue about it in the GetRekt Discord.

Sources

• Forbes (via Yahoo Finance): ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Reaches $1 Billion In Sales Ahead Of Release, Report Says
• GamesBeat: Grand Theft Auto VI preorders cross $1B, analyst roundup
• Sensor Tower: GTA VI Sales Tracker
• PlayStation Blog: Pre-load Grand Theft Auto VI on PS5 starting today
• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Business Data and Sales
• PCMag Australia: As Gamers Gear Up for GTA 6, PS5 Shipments Top 100 Million Units
• PlayStation (YouTube): Grand Theft Auto VI – Features Trailer