GTA 6 sets six records before its November 19 launch

GTA 6 has piled up a run of audience and sales milestones before it reaches stores on November 19, 2026. Brazilian outlet Critical Hits has collected six of them in one list, covering the game's trailers, a US purchase intent survey and early digital pre-order revenue. The numbers come from several places: YouTube counts, a Take-Two investor presentation and two research firms, Circana and Newzoo. None of them is a sales total from Rockstar.

Trailer 1's YouTube numbers

Three of the six records belong to the first trailer. Rockstar released it in December 2023, and it introduced Jason Duval, Lucia Caminos and a modern Vice City. According to Critical Hits:

• It has collected around 12 million likes, which the outlet calls the most for any game trailer.
• It has passed roughly 300 million views, which Critical Hits ranks as the most for a game reveal trailer.
• It pulled in more than 93 million views in its first 24 hours, a YouTube record for the debut of a non-music video.

The last record only measures the trailer's first day. The other two totals are still growing as fans keep going back to pick apart Leonida frame by frame. Our trailers guide covers each video in detail.

Trailer 2's cross-platform debut

The second trailer's record is counted differently. Critical Hits says Take-Two's August 2026 investor presentation credited it with more than 475 million views across multiple platforms in its first 24 hours, not on YouTube alone. The outlet points out that this means it can't be compared directly with Trailer 1's YouTube-only figures. Even so, it suggests the second trailer reached a bigger audience than the first.

Circana's 29% purchase intent

On October 28, Circana published survey data showing that 29% of US console and PC players plan to buy GTA 6. The research firm says that is the highest purchase intent it has ever recorded for a game. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said the demand could carry over into consoles, accessories and subscription services. Intent doesn't guarantee a sale, but it gives retailers a useful number for planning stock. There's more on the survey in our Circana purchase intent story.

Newzoo's pre-order estimate

Critical Hits puts a Newzoo estimate at the top of its list. The analytics firm reckons GTA 6 brought in about $180 million in digital pre-order sales during the first week of its campaign. That covers the US and five large European markets: the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Newzoo says it is the strongest opening week for a pre-order campaign in its database.

Newzoo also projects cumulative global sales of $3.3 billion to $5.2 billion by the end of launch week. Both figures are Newzoo's own estimates. Rockstar and Take-Two did not release them, and the gap between the low and high projections is wide. If you haven't picked an edition yet, our price and editions guide lists the options by market.

Hype versus the finished game

Critical Hits ends on the obvious caveat: none of these records guarantees that GTA 6 will live up to the long wait. What they do show is the scale of interest. A trailer that came out years before release still holds YouTube records, and early pre-orders are tracking ahead of anything in Newzoo's data. Unless the date changes again, the first sales figures from Take-Two should follow the November 19 launch.