Grand Theft Auto VI now holds the highest purchase intent that market research firm Circana has ever recorded for a video game. In a press release published on October 28, 2026, Circana said 29% of US console and PC gamers plan to buy the game, which the company rounds to "nearly 1-in-3" in its headline.

The figure comes from Circana's PlayerPulse consumer tracking. Circana calls GTA 6 "the most anticipated video game release in Circana's tracking history". Media Play News and Seeking Alpha were among the outlets that covered the release. We read Circana's own announcement before writing this.

What Circana reported

The release is short. These are the data points it contains:

  • 29% purchase intent among US console and PC gamers, measured through Circana's PlayerPulse.
  • A record. Circana says this is the highest purchase intent level it has recorded for any video game.
  • GTA 5's track record. Grand Theft Auto V is the best-selling premium video game in Circana's US tracked history, in both unit and dollar sales.
  • Thirteen straight years in the charts. GTA 5 has been among the top 20 best-selling video games in the US every year from 2013 through 2025.
  • Still played heavily. In 2025, its 13th year on sale, GTA 5 ranked third in total active users across the PlayStation and Xbox ecosystems.

What Circana's analyst said

Mat Piscatella, Circana's video games industry analyst, is quoted three times in the release. He called the launch "a rare cultural and commercial moment for the video game industry". He said demand is expected to reach beyond the game itself, into consoles, accessories and gaming subscriptions.

On hardware, Piscatella said many people who haven't moved to a current-generation console "may choose to purchase a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series specifically to play the title." He also expects GTA 6 to drive software sales, hardware upgrades and gaming tech purchases through Black Friday and the rest of the fourth quarter.

Those are an analyst's forecasts. They are not sales data, and they are not statements from Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

What the number doesn't tell us

Purchase intent measures what people say they plan to do. It doesn't count sales, and Circana's release leaves out the details you'd need to compare the 29% with other surveys:

  • No sample size or survey dates. The release doesn't say how many gamers were asked or when.
  • No question wording. We don't know whether people were asked about buying at launch, this year, or ever.
  • PC players are included. The survey covers US console and PC gamers, but GTA 6 isn't launching on PC. Rockstar has announced only PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions.
  • US only. Nothing in the release covers other countries.

So the 29% shouldn't be set beside other firms' polls as if they measured the same thing. The useful part of the claim is the comparison inside Circana's own data: by its measure, no game has scored higher.

How it fits with what's official

Here's what Rockstar and Take-Two have confirmed. GTA 6 launches on November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The PlayStation and Xbox stores list the Standard Edition at $79.99 and the Ultimate Edition at $99.99.

Take-Two has never published a pre-order count. On its August 7 earnings call, CEO Strauss Zelnick called pre-orders "unprecedented and astonishing" but gave no figures. Every pre-order number you've seen since then, including Sensor Tower's digital estimates, comes from third-party trackers. Circana's survey adds another outside measure of demand. It doesn't replace the sales figures Take-Two hasn't released.

What to watch next

Circana publishes monthly US sales charts, and November 2026 will be the first month that includes GTA 6. Those charts will show how much of this intent turned into actual purchases, and whether the console boost Piscatella expects shows up in hardware sales. Take-Two's next quarterly results are the other place real numbers could appear. Until then, treat any GTA 6 sales figure that isn't from Take-Two as an estimate.