Sony and Microsoft are encouraging players to start their GTA VI preloads now

"We strongly advise that everyone who is hoping to play on launch day to pre-load the game as soon as possible," Sony wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

By Jarrod Jones  |  November 10, 2026 | 2:11pm
Screenshot: Rockstar Games/YouTube
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Sony and Microsoft are encouraging players to start their GTA VI preloads now

As the clock ticks inexorably toward November 19—a date known to gamers as “Grand Theft Auto VI Release Day” and to distressed and/or concerned employers as the day when innumerable employees are expected to take off work to mourn the totally unrelated deaths of their distant relatives—Sony Interactive Entertainment and Microsoft are encouraging players to preload their pre-ordered copies of GTA VI onto their consoles now to avoid potential download hiccups on launch day. “We strongly advise that everyone who is hoping to play on launch day pre-load the game as soon as possible,” Tim Turi, Sony’s Content Communications Manager, said in a statement on Tuesday. Microsoft echoed that sentiment in a similar statement. As of Tuesday, pre-loading for GTA VI was available via Sony’s PlayStation Store and Xbox’s Microsoft Store.

It’s good advice, given the titles’ “unprecedented demand,” per Turi. GTA VI has racked up an undisclosed but presumably enormous number of pre-orders, given the soft urgency of Sony and Microsoft’s Tuesday announcements, with IGN reporting (via the tracking firm Sensor Tower) that Rockstar has already pulled in 9.69 million pre-orders across all consoles, making it the most pre-ordered game of all time. (Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said in an analyst call following the company’s third-quarter report that GTA VI was performing “far in excess of our initial expectations.”) So, consider yourself warned. Also, now’s a good time to clear space on your consoles, since GTA VI requires at least 212 GB at launch and up to—if not over—223 GB after Rockstar initiates its day-one patches and updates. Here’s one unexpected consequence of GTA VI Day: Saying goodbye to our Baldur’s Gate 3 files (at least for now). Astarion, we won’t forget you.

To mark the occasion, Rockstar Games has released an appropriately hypey, booty-wiggling new Pre-Load Trailer, which you can watch below. 

 
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