Grand Theft Auto VI Statistics 2026: Release Date, Trailers & Forecasts

GTA VI releases November 19, 2026 at $79.99. Its trailer was watched 475 million times in a day. Take-Two forecasts $8 billion in revenue. Here are all the verified GTA 6 statistics.

Oliver GrantUpdated:

Grand Theft Auto VI is the most commercially anticipated game in history — and it still has not come out. After more than a decade in development, two official delays, and a trailer that set viewership records that no film or TV production has touched, GTA VI launches November 19, 2026 at $79.99 for the Standard Edition. Pre-orders opened June 25, 2026. Take-Two Interactive has publicly forecast up to $8.2 billion in revenue for the fiscal year it lands in. Here are the verified statistics behind the most-watched pre-release in gaming history.

GTA VI key statistics

  • November 19, 2026 — confirmed release date on PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X|S.
  • $79.99 Standard · $99.99 Ultimate — US pricing confirmed by Rockstar in June 2026.
  • 93 million — YouTube views for Trailer 1 in its first 24 hours, a record for non-music videos at the time.
  • 475 million — total views for Trailer 2 across all platforms in its first 24 hours — the biggest video launch of all time per Rockstar.
  • 447 million — combined YouTube views for both gameplay trailers to date, per BBC reporting.
  • 269 million — YouTube views for Trailer 1 to date, now the most-viewed game trailer on YouTube ever.
  • 13 million — YouTube views for the official cover art reveal video within days of its June 18 release.
  • $8.0–8.2 billion — Take-Two’s official FY27 net bookings forecast, driven primarily by GTA VI.
  • $7.6 billion — Konvoy Ventures analyst projection for GTA VI revenue within its first 60 days.
  • 25 million — projected day-one copies sold at $79.99 each, per Konvoy Ventures.
  • June 25, 2026 — pre-orders officially open on digital storefronts and select retailers.
  • November 12, 2026 — pre-load begins for digital and physical pre-orders ahead of launch.

GTA VI release and development

GTA VI releases November 19, 2026 — delayed twice from an original Fall 2025 window

(Source: Rockstar Games Newswire)

  • Rockstar originally targeted Fall 2025 for GTA VI’s release window.
  • The game was delayed to May 26, 2026, then delayed again to November 19, 2026, with Rockstar citing the need for additional development time. Take-Two’s stock fell as much as 18% on the day of the second delay announcement.
  • It releases on PlayStation 5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X|S as a single-player experience at launch — Rockstar made no announcement of GTA VI Online or any multiplayer mode at release.
  • No PC release date has been announced alongside the console launch.
  • Pre-orders officially open June 25, 2026 on digital storefronts and select retailers — announced by Rockstar on June 18, 2026.
  • Digital pre-orders and physical retail boxes can pre-load from November 12, 2026. Physical editions contain a download code in a box — no disc.
  • Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed in February 2026 that the November 19 date remains on track, with a Summer 2026 marketing campaign planned.
  • The game is not yet rated by the ESRB as of June 2026.

Two delays on one of the most financially critical game launches in industry history reflects the scale of what Rockstar is attempting. The original Fall 2025 target was already conservative relative to a decade of development; each slip has extended the anticipation further while also deferring billions in projected revenue for Take-Two’s shareholders. The November 19 date is described by Take-Two as firm. Rockstar’s confirmation that launch is single-player only was one of the most significant pre-release disclosures — it signals existing GTA Online will carry the live-service revenue until a VI Online mode arrives, whenever that may be.

GTA VI costs $79.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition

(Source: Rockstar Games; Variety; BBC)

  • The Standard Edition is priced at $79.99 in the US and £69.99 in the UK — $10 above the $69.99 baseline most AAA console releases have used this generation.
  • The Ultimate Edition costs $99.99 / £89.99, bundling premium vehicles, weapons, apparel, and story content threaded across the campaign. Players who buy Standard can upgrade to Ultimate separately at any time.
  • All digital purchases and pre-orders made before November 20, 2026 include the Vintage Vice City Pack — a 1955 Vapid Stanier sedan, Shore Court Garage, retro outfits for Jason and Lucia, and a weapon skin.
  • Digital pre-orders also include one free month of GTA+, redeemable toward GTA Online benefits.
  • Both digital and physical editions are available; the physical version is a boxed download code, not a disc.

Rockstar held pricing until days before pre-orders opened — a deliberate late reveal for a game whose demand was never in doubt. At $79.99, GTA VI matches the upper tier of current-gen AAA pricing without crossing the $100 threshold for the base edition that some analysts had predicted.

No PC release alongside consoles — Take-Two says the delay is strategic, not an exclusivity deal

(Source: IGN; GameLuster)

  • No PC release date has been announced for launch day or any window before November 19, 2026.
  • Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated the staggered PC rollout is a Rockstar creative and strategic decision, explicitly denying that a Sony marketing arrangement is behind it.
  • Analyst consensus and the GTA V precedent point to a PC port 6–12 months after console launch — but Rockstar has not confirmed a PC version is in active development or dated one.

The PC gap is the largest unanswered platform question. GTA V arrived on PC roughly 18 months after its console debut; industry observers expect a similar pattern, with some leaks pointing to early 2027, but none of that is verified.

Development cost is estimated at $1–2 billion, but no official figure has been confirmed

(Source: Multiple analyst estimates; Take-Two Interactive)

  • Analyst and press estimates have placed the development budget for GTA VI between $1 billion and $2 billion, which would make it the most expensive game ever made.
  • Take-Two Interactive has publicly stated the $2 billion figure is not accurate. No official budget has been disclosed.
  • For context, GTA V cost approximately $265 million to develop — roughly $137 million in development and $128 million in marketing.

The $2 billion figure circulates widely but remains unconfirmed. Development budgets include staffing, technology licensing, engine development, motion capture, voice acting, and years of iteration — and GTA VI has been in active development since at least 2014. Even at the lower bound of $1 billion, it would represent a step-change from GTA V’s budget. The true cost may never be disclosed.

GTA VI trailers and marketing

GTA VI Trailer 1 set a YouTube 24-hour record with 93 million views

(Source: YouTube Blog; Variety)

  • Released December 4, 2023, GTA VI Trailer 1 generated 93 million views in its first 24 hours on YouTube — a new record for non-music video content at the time.
  • It has since accumulated over 269 million views on YouTube alone, making it the most-viewed game trailer in YouTube history.
  • Rockstar’s post announcing the trailer set the record for the most-liked post in gaming on social media at the time.

GTA VI Trailer 2 generated 475 million views across platforms in 24 hours — the biggest video launch ever

(Source: The Hollywood Reporter; Rockstar Games; IGN)

  • Released in May 2025, GTA VI Trailer 2 reached 475 million views across all platforms — YouTube, X, Facebook, and others — within its first 24 hours.
  • Rockstar Games called it “the biggest video launch of all time.”
  • On YouTube alone, the trailer set a new 24-hour record for non-music videos, surpassing Trailer 1’s own record.

475 million views in 24 hours represents approximately 6% of the global population watching the same video on the same day. For context, the Super Bowl — the most-watched single television event in the US — draws around 120 million viewers. No film trailer, sports event clip, or music video has matched this figure in a 24-hour window across combined platforms.

Both gameplay trailers have drawn roughly 447 million combined YouTube views

(Source: BBC)

  • As of mid-2026, Trailer 1 and Trailer 2 together have accumulated approximately 447 million views on YouTube — a cumulative figure cited by BBC ahead of pre-orders opening.
  • Cross-platform totals including X, Facebook, and other channels are higher; the 475 million figure for Trailer 2 alone already exceeded any single-platform 24-hour record.

The cover art reveal drew 13 million YouTube views and 60+ new screenshots

(Source: Rockstar Games YouTube; IGN)

  • On June 18, 2026, Rockstar released the official cover art in a 33-second video — not a new gameplay trailer — alongside the pre-order date announcement.
  • The cover art video accumulated over 13 million YouTube views within days of release, with more than 1 million likes.
  • When Rockstar confirmed pricing on June 24, 2026, it released 60+ new official screenshots showing Jason, Lucia, Vice City, vehicles, and Ultimate Edition content.

The cover art push marked Rockstar’s first major marketing beat since Trailer 2 in May 2025 — a seven-month gap that underscored how tightly the studio has controlled information flow. The screenshot dump on pricing day was the largest single batch of official in-game imagery released to date.

GTA VI sales and revenue forecasts

Take-Two projects $8.0–8.2 billion in FY27 net bookings

(Source: Take-Two Interactive earnings; Game Developer; TweakTown)

  • Take-Two Interactive officially projects $8.0–8.2 billion in net bookings for its fiscal year 2027 (ending March 2027), driven primarily by GTA VI’s November 19 launch.
  • This would represent a record year for Take-Two by a significant margin — the company generated $5.6 billion in FY2024.
  • GTA Online revenue currently generates over $150 million per quarter from GTA V. Rockstar’s June 2026 pricing announcement made no mention of a GTA VI Online mode at launch — existing GTA Online is expected to continue until a VI-era online experience is announced.

Analysts project up to $7.6 billion in GTA VI revenue within its first 60 days

(Source: Konvoy Ventures; BBC)

  • Investment firm Konvoy Ventures projects GTA VI will sell approximately 25 million copies on day one at $79.99 each — aligning with Rockstar’s confirmed Standard Edition price — generating roughly $2 billion in 24 hours from game sales alone.
  • Over its first 60 days, Konvoy projects total revenue of approximately $7.6 billion including game sales and digital transactions.
  • GTA V holds the current record for best opening week in gaming history, earning $1.15 billion in its first five days when it launched in 2013.

Analyst projections carry inherent uncertainty — no projection models can account for review reception, server stability at launch, or shifting consumer spending at the time of release. That said, multiple independent analysts have arrived at broadly similar figures, and Take-Two’s own $8B forecast for the full fiscal year implies they are internally modelling a very large launch quarter.

GTA V — the record GTA VI is chasing

GTA V has sold nearly 230 million copies over 12 years

(Source: Take-Two Interactive; Game Developer)

  • GTA V has sold approximately 230 million copies lifetime across PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC — one of the three best-selling games in history alongside Minecraft and Tetris.
  • It has been re-released three times across console generations and continues to generate revenue through GTA Online more than a decade after launch.
  • GTA V earned $1 billion in its first three days — then the fastest entertainment property to reach that milestone, beating Hollywood’s biggest film openings.

GTA VI inherits this weight of expectation. A franchise that has sold 455 million units total, with one game accounting for 230 million of those, creates an almost impossible set of comparisons. GTA VI does not need to outperform GTA V on day one to be a historic success — but given the scale of Take-Two’s revenue forecast, it is being built and marketed as if it will.

The 2022 Rockstar hack

The GTA VI source code leak in 2022 cost Rockstar $5 million and thousands of staff hours

(Source: GamesRadar)

  • In September 2022, hacker Arion Kurtaj leaked over 90 videos and screenshots from an early build of GTA VI before any official announcement.
  • The breach cost Rockstar an estimated $5 million and thousands of staff hours to recover from.
  • Kurtaj carried out the hack from a hotel room using basic consumer devices including a Fire TV Stick and a mobile phone.
  • He was later deemed psychiatrically unfit to stand trial in the UK.

The leak was significant not only for its cost but for what it demonstrated: one of the most security-conscious game studios in the world, working on its most valuable unreleased asset, was compromised through low-tech means. The vulnerability was human and logistical, not technical. It also confirmed GTA VI’s development publicly two years before the official trailer.

GTA VI timeline

  • ~2014 — Development of GTA VI is believed to have begun internally at Rockstar Games.
  • September 2022 — Arion Kurtaj hacks Rockstar; 90+ early-build clips leaked online.
  • December 4, 2023 — Trailer 1 releases; 93 million YouTube views in 24 hours, a non-music record.
  • May 2025 — Trailer 2 releases; 475 million cross-platform views in 24 hours — biggest video launch ever.
  • November 6, 2025 — Rockstar confirms delay from Fall 2025 to May 26, 2026.
  • Early 2026 — Second delay announced; release moves to November 19, 2026.
  • June 18, 2026 — Official cover art revealed; pre-orders announced for June 25.
  • June 24, 2026 — Pricing confirmed ($79.99 Standard, $99.99 Ultimate); 60+ screenshots released; single-player-only launch confirmed.
  • June 25, 2026 — Pre-orders open at midnight local time on PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Rockstar Games Store, and retailers.
  • November 12, 2026 — Pre-load begins; physical retail boxes available for pre-loading.
  • November 19, 2026 — Confirmed release on PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X|S.

Sources

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