GTA 6 Pre-Order Date Accidentally Confirmed, Mark Your Calendars

Grand Theft Auto VI is finally set to arrive on November 19 (at the time of writing), and with only around six months to go until that date, many are expecting things to start ramping up very soon indeed. Our last major obstacle is the Take-Two earnings call this month, and if we can get past that without the announcement of another delay, then we should have a clear runway to release date.

If Rockstar is planning to stick to the current date, then the third and final trailer for the game, as well as information around pre-orders, should drop imminently. Though we haven’t heard anything official yet, one retailer may just have jumped the gun and told everyone exactly when they’ll be able to put down their hard-earned money for the game.

As first reported by The Sixth Axis, US retailer Best Buy has seemingly accidentally confirmed that GTA VI pre-orders will start on May 18, after sending out an email to affiliates confirming they can get 5% compensation on the online sale. In that email, they confirmed that rewards would be available from May 18–May 21, which wouldn’t be possible without pre-orders opening.

This information has come from multiple sources, none of whom are connected by anything other than the fact that they are all Best Buy affiliates. That means that, unless it’s some placeholder they accidentally sent out to customers, this is the best sign we have seen yet of what Rockstar’s plans are.

This is obviously a particularly funny way for this to emerge, because if any game doesn’t need the help of affiliate marketing, then it’s almost certainly this one. If this does all turn out to be true, then the next few days should be the last ones where fans are having to sit tight to wait to hear more. Equally, if pre-orders do go live on that date, the third and final trailer will follow in relatively short order.

It’s easy to forget that, by all rights, we should have been playing GTA VI already, with the two delays pushing the game’s release more than a year beyond the plans Rockstar originally had for it. Though it has been a difficult time to wade through for all fans of the franchise, if it allowed the developer to cook up the exact game that everyone has been hoping for, then it will almost certainly have been worth the immense wait.

Released

November 19, 2026

ESRB

Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+

Engine

Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer