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By Aditi Shrikant After waiting 13 years for this videogame, almost one-fifth of workers plan to take the day off to play 'Grand Theft Auto VI' when it drops on Nov. 19 Gamers have waited more than a decade for the latest version of "Grand Theft Auto." The "Grand Theft Auto" videogame franchise is notorious for its in-game heists - and now managers can add "stealing productivity" to its list of crimes when the long-awaited "Grand Theft Auto VI" drops on Thursday, Nov. 19, after years of delays. Amy Gettler, who has taken the day off from work for every "GTA" release, is one of the millions of fans who's been waiting for "GTA 6" since playing the previous version in 2013. Gettler, 43, has already preordered the game, which rings in at $79.99 (or $99.99 for the "ultimate edition" with extra digital content, like custom cars), and asked for paid time off on the Thursday release date.
She and her husband, who's also taking the 19th off, plan to spend five to eight hours playing that day. "We are going to park ourselves in front of our TV in the living room - we got a new TV, a 65-inch," she said. "I'm going to dedicate as much time as I can to it.
I'm going to let hours float by." They're not alone. Almost one-fifth (18%) of American workers plan to take Nov. 19 off to play "GTA 6," according to Bamboo HR, drawing on its platform data from more than 3.4 million U.S.-based employees and surveys from over 1,500 workers. The human-resource platform also finds that the paid-time-off request rate for the game's release date is 13% higher than it was on similar days last year and in 2024.
What's more, a widely-shared International Business Times report has even claimed that "GTA 6" could cost the U.S. economy $1 billion in lost productivity in a single day - although it should be noted that this estimate seems to have been worked out by a Barcelona economics professor, and was not taken from a published paper. 'A lot of people will be calling in sick on Nov. 19.'Take-Two Interactive Software CEO Strauss Zelnick And 32% of respondents to MarketWatch's own polls on Instagram and X said they plan to take the day off - or, secretly play the game while on the clock, perhaps while they're working from home. In fact, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) - the parent company of "GTA 6" developer Rockstar Games - even told gaming news site IGN earlier this year that he thinks "a lot of people will be calling in sick on Nov. 19." Buzz around the game has also spawned viral "Saturday Night Live" sketches, and YouTube skits about droves of workers all putting in for the same time off in order to play the game. "South Park" even revealed an exclusive sneak peek of "GTA 6" footage during its most recent episode on Thursday.
"Being such a fan, and waiting 13 years for this game to come out and the hype around it, I don't want to wait to play it until the weekend," Gettler said. And besides: "After work, I'm drained." 'It's in a league of its own' So what's making "GTA 6" the most hotly anticipated game of the year - if not the past decade? Nearly one in three American console and PC gamers plan to buy "GTA 6," according to new Circana data - the highest level of purchase intent for a videogame in the global market-research firm's tracking history.
"Players have been waiting 13 years for a sequel to 'Grand Theft Auto V,' and demand is expected to extend beyond software sales to include consoles, accessories and gaming subscriptions as consumers prepare for launch," Circana's videogames industry analyst Mat Piscatella said in a statement. "The game is unique and such a cultural phenomenon," said Karl Kontus, a senior vice president of videogame insights at Sensor Tower. "It's not just a game.
It's something you talk to your friends about and brag about." Additions like a full bus system, detailed non-player characters and a much, much larger map all have gamers itching to start playing. This is also the longest amount of time gamers have had to wait for a new "GTA" game. The previous record was five years between the release of "GTA 4" and "GTA 5," so there's 13 years of pent-up demand at play.
And that hype is translating into huge presales. Six weeks before the release date, there were already almost 7 million pre-orders for "GTA 6," according to data from Sensor Tower as of Friday, raking in over $600 million already. That is 148% higher than the number of presale orders that "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II," the next-best-selling game of the past six years, had this far out from its release date.
The long-term trajectory of sales for a game like this once it finally hits store shelves is "incredibly big," said Kontus. "It's in a league of its own, so it's hard to benchmark it against anything else," he added. "Some of the biggest preorders that have been publicly announced ... achieved 8 million preorders by launch. 'GTA 6' is going to completely blow past that number.
It's going to, at the very least, double what it is right now." It's likely to be twice as popular as its predecessor, "GTA 5," which came out in 2013 and had 7 million presales, according to data from VGChartz. Sales passed the $1 billion mark just three days after that game's release. Previously: 'GTA 6' preorders are live - and pack an unpleasant surprise for gamers besides the $80 price tag "GTA 6" is also hitting shelves at the perfect time to take time off from work - a week before Thanksgiving, and during a month when people are more willing and maybe more eager to use their remaining time off before the end of the year.
Last year, 62% of Americans didn't use all their paid time off, according to data from Vacation Tracker. What's more, the rise in remote work has made it so many workers don't necessarily have to take a full day off to play the new game - such as remote workers planning take a "soft off" day. Take Jeffery Haynes, 40, who said he is allotting four to five hours to playing "GTA 6" on Nov. 19 - including during work hours.
He's been a fan of the game since he was in high school. "I plan to play after work, but I'll play while I'm 'working,' too, since I work from home," he said. For the uninitiated, "GTA 6" will be a huge, open-world game giving its players plenty to do in the days and weeks - if not months - to come.
So the distraction from work could run beyond just a single day. "I'm excited to 'lock in' on a videogame," Haynes added, "which I haven't done since 'GTA 5' came out." -Aditi Shrikant This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 10-31-26 0031ET Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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