GTA 6 pre-orders hit $180 million in one week

Grand Theft Auto 6 pulled in roughly $180 million in digital pre-orders across the US and the five largest European markets during the last week of June, according to market research firm Newzoo. Based on that early demand, the firm says GTA 6 has kicked off “the strongest pre-order campaign ever recorded.”

Newzoo said those six markets account for 69% of lifetime console players for GTA 5, which it used to estimate around $260 million in global spending during GTA 6's first week of pre-orders.

“That is a massive sum with major implications for how GTA 6's total sales should be forecast.”

The firm said that, based on the sales curve it expects the game to follow, GTA 6 is on pace for $3.3 billion to $5.2 billion in cumulative global sales by the end of launch week. Its central estimate is about $4.5 billion, or roughly 51 million copies sold.

Newzoo argues the game most closely matches the “proven sequel” pattern rather than a brand-new IP or a sequel with uncertain performance. Under that model, first-week pre-orders represent about 5.8% of total sales by the end of launch week, with demand building steadily as release approaches.

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The firm also pushed back on viral claims that GTA 6 had already reached $1 billion in pre-orders with 21 weeks still to go before launch.

“This is absurd. Given how pre-order curves look, nothing ever has and nothing ever will in the near future.”

It added that the real figure is $180 million across the tracked markets in late June, translating to a global opening-week estimate of roughly $260 million, “with most of the ramp still ahead.”

GTA 6 officially launches on November 19. Its physical edition does not include a disc, instead shipping with a digital download code — a controversial move, though a recent report said the physical version is still a top seller at multiple retailers.

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