The Gaming Brief:
- GTA 6 pre-loading is live: PS5 unlocks at midnight local time on November 10 and Xbox Series X|S at 12am GMT, ahead of the November 19 launch
- Rockstar lists up to 212GB of required storage, slightly above the 210GB tracked earlier
- Datamined strings such as joinSession and launchMultiplayerActivity hint at multiplayer, but Rockstar still calls GTA 6 single-player
- Physical copies ship November 12, and the code in the box unlocks the pre-load
GTA 6 pre-loading is live, and it arrived earlier than the date trackers suggested.
Rockstar’s schedule unlocks the PS5 download at midnight local time on November 10 and the Xbox Series X|S download at 12 am GMT, nine days before launch.
Within hours, players datamining the files found multiplayer-related strings, which raise questions about GTA Online’s future more than they answer them.
Pre-Load Times, the 212GB Requirement and the PS5 Firmware Catch
The Xbox pre-load went live at 12:00 AM GMT on November 10 (7:00 PM ET on Monday, November 9).
Rockstar lists up to 212GB of required storage, depending on the device, while online discussions say the PS5 needs firmware 14.22.
That size presents a space challenge: on a base PS5 with 667GB of usable room, the game takes up about 32% of the primary drive, where it must remain, as PS5 titles cannot be played directly from external USB drives.
How to Pre-Load, and Whether You’ll Finish in Time
On PS5, open GTA 6’s page in the PlayStation Store and select pre-load.
For a hands-off start, go to Game Library, choose the pre-ordered game, turn on Auto-Download, and leave the console on or in Rest Mode.
On Xbox, find GTA 6 in the Microsoft Store and select Install, with the console on or in Sleep mode. The physical copies ship November 12 with a code in the box that unlocks the pre-load, PCMag adds.
At 212GB, download time comes down to your connection speed:
- 100 Mbps: Takes roughly 4.7 hours of continuous downloading.
- 25 Mbps: Takes about 18.8 hours.
- Slow Connections: To finish before the November 19 unlock, you need a sustained average speed of just 2.2 Mbps over nine days.
What the Multiplayer Strings Do and Don’t Show
GameSpot says players found references like “join Session,” “launch Activity,” and “launch Multiplayer Activity” in the files, which some read as a new form of GTA Online.
Rockstar has said GTA 6 is single-player, and GameSpot cautions that these strings don’t mean online play will exist at launch.
It adds that insiders expect the online experience at some point in 2027, just as they do for a PC release, and that the story appears as an individual download within the files.
GameSpot also reports file references to 120Hz support and multi-frame super resolution on the pricey PS5 Pro. Rockstar hasn’t announced any PS5 Pro specifics.
