Third-party estimates put digital console pre-orders near 9.7 million

Summary

– Sony and Microsoft say GTA 6 is the most pre-ordered game on their stores

– Sensor Tower estimates 9.69 million digital console pre-orders worth about $942 million

– Rockstar and Take-Two have not confirmed the third-party figures

Grand Theft Auto 6 has set pre-order records on both the PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store, according to Sony and Microsoft. Neither company disclosed sales figures, but both described demand for the game as unprecedented.

Sony announced the record as PS5 pre-loading opened ahead of the November 19 release. Microsoft later called GTA 6 the most pre-ordered title in Microsoft Store history while confirming Xbox Cloud Gaming support for Xbox One.

Sensor Tower’s tracker offers an estimate of the scale. As of November 10, the analytics firm counted 9.69 million digital console pre-orders, worth an estimated $942 million after returns. That was up from 7.71 million a week earlier.

The estimate attributes roughly 7.23 million orders, or about 75%, to PlayStation, with 2.46 million on Xbox. The combined average of around $97 per copy is consistent with strong demand for the $100 Ultimate Edition.

If accurate, the estimate puts GTA 6 ahead of the 8 million pre-orders CD Projekt reported for Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. The figures are not directly comparable, however: Cyberpunk launched on PC as well as consoles, while Sensor Tower appears to track digital console orders.

These numbers remain third-party estimates. Rockstar Games and Take-Two have not confirmed them, though Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently said pre-orders were exceeding the company’s expectations. With nine days remaining before launch and nearly two million estimated orders added in the prior week, GTA 6 could pass 10 million pre-orders before release.