Pre-orders for GTA 6 have smashed records, bringing in a staggering $1.18 billion in early sales. Rockstar Games’ hit has already sold 12 million pre-orders worldwide, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. This surpasses the previous record set by Grand Theft Auto V which had 7 million pre-orders before it launched in 2013. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed this week that GTA 6 is selling much faster than expected. This makes the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI the biggest entertainment event this decade.
Rising Console Costs Temper GTA 6 Pre-Orders Hardware Boost
However despite this massive success, analysts have said that high console prices could mean that GTA 6 pre-orders will fail to help boost weak console sales. With the game priced at $80 for the Standard Edition and $100 for the Ultimate Edition it can only be played on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Console prices have risen due to the following reasons:
The demand for memory chips for AI data centers has caused console memory and storage prices to rise by over 2.5x.
The price of the standard PS5 has risen to $649.99 from $499.99. The PS5 Pro has risen to $899.99 from $699.99.
This means that new players will have to pay between $580 and over $1000 to get the console and game. This makes upgrading very expensive for gamers in Pakistan.
Declining Global Hardware Sales Despite Blockbuster Demand
Overall, US console sales fell by 9% to $2.9 billion between January and September 2026, according to market data from Circana. Xbox Series sales fell by 27%. Analysts predict that record GTA 6 pre-orders will only provide a small boost to console sales as people are reluctant to spend so much money on new consoles due to inflation.
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