Pre-orders for Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto VI” went online three weeks ago, and in its wake there have been a lot of arguments about how well it is doing.
One thing seems clear: it’s not good for retailers. With the game’s physical edition set to be simply a ‘code in a box’, many of those who’ve pre-ordered have taken the digital route.
As a result, retailers like GameStop have received very few pre-orders from customers. One employee wrote on Reddit that their store expected to receive 500 preorders on launch day – and received only 5. Another had a goal of 200 and received only 11.
Another employee said: “Every customer I had today walked away when I informed them it was a download code and no ultimate edition.”
More pre-orders have gone over to digital with various figures floating about. One set (via Eciks) claimed 39 million pre-orders were received in the first 24 hours, generating $3 billion in revenue. That claim has not been backed up and has since been widely dismissed online.
Another, via Vice, indicated that over 81% of pre-orders on PS5 were for the $100 Ultimate Edition. The leaker didn’t provide actual sales numbers or a secondary source.
Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two, have yet to release any official GTA VI pre-order figures since they opened. But analysts project around 40 million copies to be sold in the first year.
Rockstar Games has reportedly set a November 12th preload date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S users – a full week before the game’s launch according to MSN.
