Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are now officially open, and the early signs point to one of the most commercially explosive game launches the industry has ever seen.

Depending on the version you go for, it could cost you either $80 USD or $100 USD. It's not a cheap game, and it wasn't a cheap game to make. So far, signs are pointing to GTA 6 being potentially the biggest and most pre-ordered game of all time.

According to VGSales, the record for the most pre-sale units ever for a video game belongs to PUBG at 30 million units. Rounding out the top five are Palworld (19.8 million), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (8.5 million), Cyberpunk 2077 (8 million), and GTA 5 (7 million). 

If we are to believe even just a fraction of the rumors that have surfaced so far (like this one, claiming 50 million pre-orders and over $4 billion in revenue already), then GTA 6 is definitely on track to set a new pre-sale record.

As of the time of this writing, no official pre-sale data has been made public, and no analysts have made any claims or predictions about pre-sales just yet.

However, we do have some data to go by. Firstly, GTA 5 had 7 million pre-orders all the way back in 2013, following a much shorter wait since GTA 4 and far less hype. Rockstar has been building anticipation for GTA 6 for several years now, and their reputation and popularity as a studio have only increased following Red Dead Redemption 2 and the insane success of GTA Online.

Additionally, analysts have been predicting huge sales for months now. DFC Intelligence estimates at least $1 billion in pre-orders alone, which would be over 10 million units if everyone pre-ordered the Ultimate $100 edition, or over 12.5 million units if everyone pre-ordered the $80 standard edition. The reality would be somewhere in between for that predicted range.

According to IGN's internal "IGN Finds Reporting," the PS5 version is outpacing Xbox pre-orders by a margin of 6 to 1. That shouldn't be too surprising given PlayStation's heavier marketing for the game as well as the fact that more than three times as many PS5s have been sold as Xbox Series X consoles to date.

Last month, analysts predicted GTA 6 could sell over 25 million copies on day one. Combined with the increased hype surrounding the game and over four months remaining before launch, I'd wager that's a low estimate.

When all things are said and done, I'd expect pre-sale numbers for GTA 6 to be the most we've ever seen, eclipsing PUBG's 30 million by quite a lot. That's based mostly on my gut feeling, of course, but I don't think it's unrealistic.

Take-Two's own CEO, Strauss Zelnick, says the weight of expectation placed on this game is "terrifying," according to Bloomberg.

As of now, GTA 6 is a digital-only release for consoles, but it may get a physical release later on. According to Rockstar, that's mostly to avoid early leaks and likely to give the team as much time as possible to squash bugs before release. Some info has sort of leaked anyway, thanks to places like Amazon.

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