GTA 6 preorder sales suggest a record nobody can touch

Grand Theft Auto 6 is out next week on Nov. 19. It'll only be available digitally, but that hasn't stopped people from preordering. In fact, they've been preordering Rockstar's next open-world adventure in record numbers. New preorder sales estimates peg GTA 6 as having already made over $1 billion in revenue.

According to market analysis firm Sensor Tower, GTA 6 has already sold an estimated 12.13 million copies. Those sales have generated an estimated $1.18 billion in revenue. That makes the average price of each sale about $97, meaning the majority of players are opting for the more expensive Ultimate Edition ($99.99) rather than the standard edition ($79.99). All these preorders have made GTA 6 the most-preordered game for both the PlayStation and Xbox stores. Earlier this month, estimates put GTA 6 at just under 8 million copies sold and $751 million in revenue, meaning its sales spiked in a very short amount of time.

Sensor Tower's estimates show a pretty wide split between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X copies sold. PS5 copies account for about 75% of the estimated sales, or 9.08 million copies and $880 million in revenue. That's not surprising as the PlayStation 5 has outsold the Xbox Series X and S this generation, and PlayStation has been marketing GTA 6 hard. It will even have exclusive PS5 Pro features.

GTA 6 is hurting sales of Take-Two's other hit game

All the attention on GTA 6's launch has hurt other sales across the entire industry. That includes Rockstar's parent company Take-Two's other fall tentpole release, NBA 2K27, which failed to meet expectations. The basketball sim is still one of the top-performing games of the year.

Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on Thursday, Nov. 19. It will have a rolling midnight launch on PS5 and will be playable starting at 1 a.m. EST on Xbox Series X.