GTA VI release prompts fans to plan sick days

Some gamers in Iceland are planning to take November 19 off when Grand Theft Auto VI arrives, mbl.is reports. The release comes 13 years after the previous game in the main series.

The launch has been delayed twice. The game was first scheduled for autumn 2025, then postponed to May 26 this year and later to November 19. Developer Rockstar Games has said the extra time was needed to finish the game and meet fans’ expectations.

Arnór Steinn Ívarsson, a co-host of the Tölvuleikjaspjallið podcast, plans to take the day off and knows others who intend to do the same. “There may be some flu going around that day,” he joked to mbl.is.

Ívarsson called GTA VI the most anticipated game of its generation and said its appeal could extend well beyond regular gamers. Many people grew up playing earlier GTA titles and may return to gaming after years away.

Ívarsson and a colleague have hosted Tölvuleikjaspjallið for six years. The podcast will mark its 300th episode with a recording in front of an audience at Next Level Gaming in Egilshöll on Friday, November 6. The event begins at 7.30pm and admission is free. Ívarsson said GTA has come up in almost every recent episode.

Market research firm Sensor Tower estimates that about 7.7 million digital copies of GTA VI have already been preordered worldwide, worth more than $750 million. GTA V generated more than $800 million in sales in its first 24 hours after its 2013 release, and passed $1 billion in its first three days.

Production costs have also drawn attention. Bloomberg reported that Rockstar’s Jennifer Kolbe rejected claims that the game’s cost had exceeded $1.5 billion, a figure comparable to the cost of building the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The game’s exact production cost has not been disclosed.

Arinbjörn Hauksson, marketing director at retailer ELKO, said hundreds of copies had already been sold in preorder. He said interest also came from people who had not played video games for years.