Pre-Launch Tracker Puts GTA 6 Near 7.7 Million Units, With PS5 Taking Three-Quarters of Sales
Written by the GTA6 Resources team
Nearly $751 million has already changed hands for a game that hasn't launched yet -- and most of that money is flowing to one platform in particular.
Sensor Tower, the video game research firm, has refreshed its unofficial GTA 6 sales tracker, and the numbers are staggering for a game still over two weeks from release. The firm estimates GTA 6 has sold 7.71 million total units through pre-purchases, generating roughly $751 million in gross revenue before a single copy has officially launched.
The platform breakdown is where things get lopsided. Of those 7.71 million units, 5.74 million have sold on PS5 compared to 1.97 million on Xbox Series X|S -- a 74/26 split. In dollar terms, that's $559 million from PS5 sales against $192 million from Xbox. Since Sony and Microsoft each keep roughly 30% of revenue through platform fees, both companies stand to profit handsomely regardless of which console wins out, even if PS5 is getting the lion's share.
Sensor Tower isn't stopping at pre-launch figures -- it's projecting as many as 25 million total pre-purchases by the time GTA 6 actually launches. If the current 74/26 split holds steady, that would translate to roughly 18.5 million units on PS5 and 6.5 million on Xbox Series X|S by launch day. Separately, Circana data cited alongside the Sensor Tower report shows GTA 6 holding 29% purchase intent among US console and PC gamers -- the highest purchase intent Circana has ever recorded for any game, meaning nearly one in three gamers in that survey pool plan to buy it.
None of this should surprise anyone who's been tracking the console wars leading into launch. PS5 has outsold Xbox Series X|S for years, and Sony holds the marketing rights for GTA 6 on its platform, giving PlayStation an even bigger spotlight advantage. That imbalance is also the backdrop for Microsoft's recent scramble to get attention anyway it can -- including the now widely-covered custom Xbox console built into a fake alligator, an attempt to piggyback on GTA 6 hype without having direct marketing rights. Framed against these sales figures, that stunt looks less like a quirky giveaway and more like a necessary workaround for a platform that's already losing the pre-order race badly.
For fans still debating which console to buy GTA 6 on, these numbers mostly confirm what the install base already suggested: PS5 is the default home for this launch, for better or worse. But with console prices higher than ever and hardware supply already a concern heading into November, the practical takeaway may matter more than the bragging rights -- whichever platform you're on, getting a system in hand before November 19 could be the bigger hurdle than deciding which store to pre-order from.
