The China Mail - 'GTA VI' preorders mark first test for biggest game of 2026

On track to outsell any other cultural product this year -- or in recorded history -- the new title has fans salivating after a 13-year wait, prompting competing publishers to clear their schedules around the release date.

Finally getting his hands on the game "doesn't exactly feel like a real thing that would ever happen", said Red Young, a 26-year-old Scotsman who has spent half his life waiting for the American studio Rockstar Games to finish "GTA VI".

"Knowing that we've got here... and I'm actually going to be able to play it, is borderline a miracle," he added.

Players will be able to reserve a digital or physical copy of GTA VI online or in stores from midnight in their time zone on Thursday, Rockstar said, before it goes live on consoles later this year.

Rockstar also announced Wednesday that the new game's price would be $10 higher than the norm for high-end titles, at $79.99 in the US, with an "Ultimate" edition offering bonus content like weapons and vehicles sold for $99.99.

- Breaking all records -

"The full launch including pre-orders will be the biggest entertainment launch ever... bigger than any movie, TV series, music concert or album," said Piers Harding-Rolls of the UK-based data firm Ampere Analysis.

Analysts at the investment bank Piper Sandler expect around 45 million copies to move before the game is even released.

That should put "GTA VI" on track to top the record for the fastest cultural product to make a billion dollars in sales, set by its predecessor, "GTA V", in barely three days.

Harding-Rolls predicted that the new game's arrival should also juice sales of gaming consoles, currently sapped by a global squeeze on memory chips that has driven up prices.

Players' expectations are sky-high following the success of the previous episode in the long-running "GTA" series.

"GTA V" sold almost 230 million copies, making it the second best-selling game of all time, behind "Minecraft".

Although millions of fans have been kept busy with the multiplayer version "GTA Online", the anticipation for a true successor has been fierce.

It was not until 2023 that Rockstar released a trailer showing off "GTA VI".

The studio "is famously a very, very quiet company", which has only served to stoke the hype, Young said.

Every screenshot, statement or supposed leak linked to the coming title draws frenzied online scrutiny.

Successive delays to the release have also kept the heat on, from autumn 2025 to May and then November this year.

Multiple sources have estimated the game's development costs at $1 to $2 billion, making it the most expensive entertainment product in history -- topping any film ever shot.

Developers have been building "GTA VI" for more than six years.

- Criminal controversy -

The "GTA" saga's action-adventure titles set in a sprawling open world have immersed players in high-definition imaginary cities heavily inspired by American metropolises.

Each game offers players a huge degree of freedom to either carry out missions that advance the plot, or simply to explore the world on foot or at the controls of a fleet of vehicles -- with the option to explode into guns-blazing criminal mayhem at any time.

Story missions often involve illegal activity ranging from burglary to murder and drug trafficking.

The focus on crime has created long-running controversy around the series, with some critics warning about its impact on young gamers.

All of its titles are rated for players aged 18 and over under Europe's PEGI classification system.

"GTA VI" will be set in a world inspired by Miami and the surrounding state of Florida -- already the backdrop for 2002's instalment "Vice City".

The two protagonists, Jason and Lucia, appear at least loosely inspired by the real-life American outlaw couple Bonnie and Clyde, who have already been the stuff of movies and TV series.

E.Lau--ThChM