Nine in ten GTA VI preorders are for the $100 Ultimate Edition — and analysts have never seen anything like it

Nearly nine in ten GTA VI preorders are for the Ultimate Edition, priced at $99.99 in the US and £89.99 in the UK — a split that market research firm Sensor Tower says has no real precedent in the games industry. The Standard Edition ($79.99 / £69.99) accounts for barely one in ten sales so far. For context, premium editions of major games typically capture 10–20% of preorders, not 90%.

The numbers

Sensor Tower senior vice president Karl Kontus broke down the figures per GameIndustry.biz: on PS5, the split is 88.5% Ultimate to 11.5% Standard; on Xbox Series, it's 90% Ultimate to 10% Standard. Kontus said flatly: "I've never seen 90% premium share before. Fifty percent during preorders is already a great result."

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick echoed that, calling demand "unprecedented and astonishing." That kind of executive enthusiasm can read as marketing spin — but here it's backed by independent analyst data.

Why so many people are paying more

The short answer is who's buying right now. Early preorders skew heavily toward hardcore fans, the people most likely to want every bonus vehicle, weapon skin, tattoo parlor, yacht club, and in-game shop the Ultimate Edition bundles in. Both editions also include the Vintage Vice City Pack as an early-purchase bonus — cosmetics and items inspired by the original Vice City's 1980s neon aesthetic.

Analysts expect the ratio to shift closer to 50/50 as the November 2026 launch approaches and more casual buyers enter the picture. That's the normal pattern: enthusiasts move first, everyone else follows at their own pace.

When and where

GTA VI launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Preorders are live now at the PlayStation Store, Xbox, and major retailers including Amazon. If you want a first look at gameplay before then, Rockstar has confirmed an extended look will air on Netflix on August 27, 2026.