GTA 6 has been pre-ordered an estimated 6.08 million times as of October 13, worth about $594 million, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The data, reported by GamesIndustry.biz on October 20, puts Rockstar’s game 148% ahead of 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at the same point before launch. These are third-party estimates: neither Rockstar Games nor its parent company Take-Two Interactive has published a pre-order figure.
Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, so the snapshot was taken a little over five weeks before release.
Table of Contents
What Sensor Tower’s GTA 6 pre-order data shows
| Metric (Sensor Tower estimate) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Pre-orders as of October 13 | 6.08 million |
| Estimated pre-order revenue | $594 million |
| Platform split | 74% PlayStation, 26% Xbox |
| Most popular edition | The $100 Ultimate Edition (“the vast majority”) |
| Versus Modern Warfare 2 (2022) at the same point | 148% ahead (US digital pre-orders) |
Sensor Tower compared GTA 6’s pre-order curve with some of the biggest launches of recent years: Modern Warfare 2, Diablo 4, Hogwarts Legacy and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Modern Warfare 2 is a demanding benchmark. GamesIndustry.biz notes it had more than double Diablo 4’s pre-orders 45 days from launch and opened with $800 million, Call of Duty’s biggest opening weekend at the time.
Netflix's GTA VI: An Extended Look sent daily pre-orders up roughly sixfold, according to Sensor Tower. Image: Rockstar Games
What the numbers do and don’t cover
Read these figures as estimates with clear limits, not as sales results. Sensor Tower is an outside analytics firm, and its figures are modeled estimates, not data supplied by Rockstar. According to GamesIndustry.biz, the analysis excludes boxed copies, and the comparison with other games uses only US digital pre-orders. The report doesn’t say whether the 6.08 million and $594 million totals are also US-only or cover more regions. Sensor Tower’s own September deep dive described its GTA 6 tracking as “estimated worldwide console pre-order revenue” across PlayStation and Xbox, so the scope of the October total isn’t clear. Sensor Tower had not posted the October data on its public blog when we checked on October 20.
The edition mix matters for revenue. The Ultimate Edition costs $99.99 in the US on the PlayStation Store, against $79.99 for the Standard Edition. If most buyers really are choosing the pricier version, the higher price isn’t deterring early buyers. Our GTA 6 pre-order guide breaks down what the extra $20 buys, the bonus deadline and why the physical box contains a download code instead of a disc.
Marketing moments move pre-orders
Sensor Tower’s earlier data shows how much Rockstar’s marketing beats drive buying. In its September report, the firm estimated GTA 6 pre-orders ran at about $2.4 million to $3.8 million a day across PlayStation and Xbox through most of August. The day after Netflix’s GTA VI: An Extended Look, that jumped to $16.3 million, roughly six times higher, with PlayStation at $12.9 million and Xbox at $3.4 million. Two weeks later, daily pre-orders were still near $5.9 million.
The October 13 snapshot also predates Rockstar’s two biggest beats since then: the launch trailer and the start of its Miami street marketing, both on October 15. Catch up with our GTA 6 launch trailer breakdown and our report on how the marketing turned Miami into Vice City.
The Shitzu Squalo boat is part of the Ultimate Edition, the version most pre-order buyers picked according to Sensor Tower. Image: Rockstar Games
What it means for the industry
For other publishers, the gap is the story. A game tracking well ahead of one of Call of Duty’s strongest launches leaves little room in November. This year’s Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 4, launches about four weeks earlier. GamesIndustry.biz expects GTA 6 to be the biggest launch in the industry’s history. It also notes that analysts it surveyed earlier this year predicted first-year sales of 30 million to more than 50 million units.
What’s next
Pre-loading opens on November 12, a week before launch. Pre-order bonuses (the Vintage Vice City Pack and, for digital store orders, a free month of GTA+) apply to purchases made by 23:59:59 on November 19, according to the store listings. Any official numbers would have to come from Rockstar or Take-Two. Until then, treat any pre-order count, including this one, as an outside estimate. No PC version has been announced.
Sources: GamesIndustry.biz (Sensor Tower data), Sensor Tower, Rockstar Games, PlayStation Store.
Live: Follow today’s gaming news as it happens
Featured image: Rockstar Games
