Sensor Tower counts $1.09 billion of GTA VI preorders, 75% on Sony's PlayStation before Nov. 19
Sony's store carries three of every four GTA VI preorders and Sony has already raised its games forecast on third-party software. The size of its cut on each $79.99 or $99.99 copy is the number no filing discloses.
Vincent Jiangtwo-minute read
Grand Theft Auto VI has drawn an estimated 11.27 million digital console preorders worth $1.09 billion as of November 12, up from 7.71 million on November 3, which is 3.56 million copies in nine days 1. Sensor Tower, the research firm behind the count, puts 75 percent of those purchases on PlayStation 5 and 25 percent on Xbox Series X|S 3. The count and the value imply an average near $97 a copy, pointing at heavy demand for the $99.99 Ultimate Edition over the $79.99 standard 3.
GTA VI preorders accelerated hard into launch week
Nearly a third of all preorders landed in the final nine days
Data
| Digital console preorders | |
|---|---|
| Aug '26 | 4.38M |
| Nov 3 | 7.71M |
| Nov 10 | 9.69M |
| Nov 12 | 11.27M |
No disc, so every copy is a store transaction
GTA VI ships with no physical disc: buyers get a download or a box containing a redemption code 3. Sony+0.87% — Sony, up 0.87 percent today confirmed the game as the most-preordered in PlayStation Store history and switched on preloads on November 10, nine days before launch, urging players to download ahead of a rolling midnight release; Microsoft−0.28% — Microsoft, down 0.28 percent today matched the record claim for its own storefront 4. Consoles carried 41 percent of Take-Two's+0.51% — Take-Two, up 0.51 percent today GAAP revenue in the September quarter, and Sony is one of four customers above 10 percent of the publisher's net revenue 2.
Sony's take is the number no filing prints
Sony collects on the surge without carrying the development bill. On November 5 it raised its games-segment forecast, revenue up ¥290 billion to ¥4.83 trillion and operating income up ¥40 billion to ¥700 billion, with CFO Lin Tao citing higher third-party software and network services sales 25.
Take-Two nudged full-year revenue guidance to $7.98–8.18 billion but held net bookings at $8.0–8.2 billion, with CEO Strauss Zelnick saying, "We tend to avoid claiming success before it occurs" 68. What no filing shows is the toll: Sony discloses no store cut, and Take-Two releases no platform split, so the 75 percent share is an outside estimate, not a reported number 23.
Take-Two's December quarter is guided to nearly double last year's
- Quarterly revenue
- Estimate
Data
| Quarterly revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q1 '25 | $1.58B |
| Q2 '25 | $1.5B |
| Q3 '25 | $1.77B |
| Q4 '25 | $1.7B |
| Q1 '26 | $1.68B |
| Q2 '26 | $1.53B |
| Q3 '26 | $1.5B |
| Q4 '26 (estimate) | $3.43B ($3.35–3.50B) |
The market has already picked its winner
On November 10, the day after earnings, Take-Two jumped 8 percent while Sony slid 2 7. Sony trades near 1.9 times forward sales against a five-year average of 1.5, so a good deal of the launch is already in the price 2.
PlayStation was carrying record traffic before the game arrived, with 127 million monthly users in September, as we reported on November 10 5. The dates that settle it: launch on November 19 against GTA V's $815.7 million first day, a record Polymarket bettors give a 97 percent chance of falling 1; Take-Two's December-quarter guide of $3.35–3.5 billion, nearly double a year earlier 6; and Sony's own December quarter, reported early next year. Enders Analysis expects 30 to 35 million units in the first year 9.
Get Applications by email, free
How AI is changing the software people and companies use. In our daily email, every weekday.
Reader comments
0 comments