Rockstar says Grand Theft Auto VI pre-loading starts on Tuesday 10 November, nine days before the 19 November launch, and that the download needs up to 212 GB depending on your device. The Newswire post went up on 3 November. It also adds something nobody had been told before: a free printable cover art poster and a map of Leonida will go on the official site on launch day.
Dates and times
| Step | When |
|---|---|
| Digital pre-load, PlayStation 5 | Tuesday 10 November, midnight local time in your time zone |
| Digital pre-load, Xbox Series X | S |
| Code-in-box copies at retailers | From 12 November, per Rockstar |
| Launch | Thursday 19 November |
TechRadar describes the new pre-load date as nine days before launch. Rockstar's wording for the physical version is that code-in-box copies "should be available" from retailers on 12 November, so a store's own shipping date can differ.
The size
Rockstar gives one number: the pre-load file will need up to 212 GB depending on your device, and it tells players to have plenty of space ready before they start. PlayStation's blog post of the same day says the same thing in different words, asking PS5 owners to clear a minimum of 212GB. Rockstar sends readers to the Rockstar Support site for the pre-load steps. The pre-load guide walks through them, and the storage guide covers what to delete or add.
The poster and the map
On 19 November Rockstar will add two free downloads to the official site: a printable Grand Theft Auto VI cover art poster and a map of Leonida. A double-sided physical poster follows shortly after launch from the Rockstar Store. It costs $0.99 on its own and is free with any purchase from the store. Rockstar has not given a date for the physical version beyond "shortly after launch", and it has not said what the map shows. Our regions comparison lists the six regions Rockstar has named so far.
What happened on 10 November
A second Rockstar post on 10 November, "Pre-Load Grand Theft Auto VI Now", opened pre-loading for everyone who pre-ordered digitally. Players with a code-in-box copy can activate the code and begin pre-loading as soon as they receive it. That post also carried the frame-rate and Xbox cloud details, which have their own articles: GTA 6 targets 30fps and Xbox One cloud gaming.
What to do now
- Check how much free space your console has against the 212 GB figure.
- Pre-load as early as you can, because Xbox and PlayStation both say demand is very high (see the Xbox One cloud article for the store records).
- If you have a code-in-box copy, use the platform's own code redemption, and check the region rules before you buy a PlayStation code from another country.