Rockstar and Take-Two haven't confirmed any of this. Here is what the numbers say, what they leave out, and why Xbox and PC readers should care.
The headline numbers
Sensor Tower says GTA 6 has sold 7.71 million units through pre-purchases, which works out to about $751 million in gross revenue. PS5 accounts for 5.74 million of those units and Xbox Series X|S for 1.97 million. That is a 74% to 26% split.
Other outlets report the revenue split as about $559 million on PlayStation and $192 million on Xbox.
The gap is about 3.77 million copies. That is roughly 2.9 PS5 pre-orders for every Xbox pre-order. The unit counts add up to the total and so do the revenue figures. That only shows the arithmetic is consistent. It doesn't verify the underlying data.
What the figures do not tell you
These are third-party estimates, and several caveats apply.
- They aren't official. The figures are not official statistics from Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive. Reports say the publisher has not disclosed the exact number of pre-orders.
- They appear to be digital only. Dexerto notes that the figures cover digital pre-orders, meaning physical copies aren't included. Kotaku doesn't mention this limit. Retailer pre-orders and boxed copies sit outside the headline figure, and a platform split among them could look different.
- They are net of refunds. One report describes the estimates as digital pre-orders net of refunds. That implies cancelled orders are already subtracted, though Kotaku doesn't cover how.
- Methodology is undisclosed. Neither Kotaku nor the coverage I found explains how Sensor Tower models its numbers or which regions it covers. Treat the 74/26 split as an estimate and not as audited market share.
How fast it is growing
Sensor Tower updates the tracker weekly. Its latest update estimates about 790,000 additional pre-orders over the past week, taking the total to 7.71 million. The estimated platform split is unchanged. The previous update, on October 20, stood at about $630 million and 6.45 million copies.
Kotaku says the trend line ticked up after an extended gameplay reveal on Netflix. That is an observation about timing and doesn't show cause.
GameSpot adds a forecast: Sensor Tower projects as many as 25 million total pre-purchases by launch. If the 74/26 split holds, that would be about 18.5 million on PS5 and 6.5 million on Xbox Series X|S. That is a projection and not a result.
The comparisons, with caveats
Cyberpunk 2077. Kotaku says that game reportedly had around 8 million pre-orders before its 2020 launch. One outlet puts GTA 6 about 290,000 short of that mark, despite having no PC version. Kotaku also calls the estimate just behind Resident Evil Requiem's estimated 8.5 million sales, which it says make that game the second-best seller of 2026 in the U.S. so far. I couldn't verify either of those figures independently, so read them as reported comparisons.
GTA 5. Kotaku sets the estimate against the $800 million GTA 5 made in its first 24 hours. Dexerto points out that the comparison isn't exact. Sensor Tower's numbers are unofficial estimates, while Take-Two's figures cover sales after GTA 5 launched. A pre-order tally and a post-launch sales figure measure different things.
Piper Sandler. Kotaku cites the financial firm's prediction of 45 million sales at launch. That is an analyst forecast, and "launch window" isn't defined in the piece.
Why this matters to Xbox and PC readers
A few launch details are confirmed:
- GTA 6 releases on November 19, 2026, for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with preloading set to begin on November 10.
- Xbox Achievements reports the pre-load requires about 212 GB of console storage. Plan drive space before November 10.
- There is no PC version announced. The tracker covers consoles only. It says nothing about PC demand.
On the Xbox side, Kotaku points to Sony's marketing campaign and the lower price of a base PS5 as possible reasons for the gap. It also notes that Xbox has run an alligator-themed hardware promotion because it is barred from marketing GTA 6. Those are plausible theories, and Kotaku doesn't demonstrate any of them.
The bottom line
Xbox's 1.97 million estimated pre-orders is a large number in absolute terms. It is also a distant second in a single game's tracker. One title's early digital pre-order split can't stand in for overall console market share, and it doesn't predict how the game will sell after launch. Real launch-window numbers from Take-Two should show how far this estimate was off.