GTA 6 Officially Breaks Pre-order Records on PlayStation and Xbox Stores

Grand Theft Auto 6 isn't even out yet, and it's already breaking records.

On Tuesday, both PlayStation and Xbox announced GTA 6 is the most-preordered game in the history of the platforms' respective stores. Because of the excessive demand for Rockstar's next open-world adventure, preloading is now available on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

Neither company has formally announced how many preorders it has received, and Rockstar hasn't revealed sales figures yet either. However, recent estimates have pegged GTA 6 at just under 8 million copies sold so far. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick told Variety that preorders are "running far in excess of [company] expectations." According to Take-Two, GTA 6's pre-release sales have also negatively impacted sales of its other huge fall game, NBA 2K27, which is still one of the top-performing games of the year.

When does GTA 6 come out?

GTA 6 launches on Thursday, Nov. 19, but will have different launch times on the two platforms. On PS5, GTA 6 will have a "rolling midnight launch by country, beginning at 12:00AM NZDT in New Zealand," according to a PlayStation Blog post. Over on Xbox Series X, GTA 6 will be playable on Nov. 19 "starting" at 1 a.m. EST, according to an Xbox Wire post. It will be playable natively on Xbox Series X and S, and playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One.

If you really don't want to wait until GTA 6 unlocks in your local time zone, you can always try the "New Zealand trick" to play it early. That involves messing with your console's settings and region, and is much easier on Xbox.

After many long years of waiting, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released next week on Nov. 19. Its launch will follow a fun marketing blitz that included showcasing dog poop on South America (formerly South Park) and taking over Miami IRL, including a crossover with the Miami Heat.