Sensor Tower: 89% of GTA6 Preorders Are for the $100 Ultimate Edition
Digital intelligence firm Sensor Tower reports that 89% of all preorders for Grand Theft Auto VI are for the $100 Ultimate Edition, rather than the $80 standard edition.
The split is similar across both launch platforms: 90% of buyers on Xbox chose the Ultimate Edition, compared to 88.5% on PlayStation.
Preorder Statistics
These figures support recent comments by Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, who told CNBC that preorders are "skewing more to the premium edition." However, the specific magnitude of this skew surprised Karl Kontus, SVP and GM of Video Game Insights at Sensor Tower.
Kontus notes that special editions typically perform well during preorder periods because dedicated fans are more likely to want a premium version. "I have never seen a 90% premium share before," he says. "Typical premium shares for games tend to be at around 10–20%".
He expects the Ultimate Edition's sales share to decline over time as more casual players buy the game, but it is likely to remain significantly above industry standards.
Drivers of Premium Success
Kontus believes pricing and content are key factors. The $20 difference between the standard and ultimate editions is not large, while the Ultimate Edition includes significant exclusive perks, including access to vehicle customization shops.
"Sometimes premium SKUs are just filler content to justify a higher price, but the GTA6 premium SKU comes with a meaningful amount of vehicles, weapons, and even a custom mod shop that you wouldn't get otherwise," says Kontus. "For a lot of people, this is the one 'must buy' game this year, and they will want to make the most of it".
Kontus also notes surprise at the absence of a $150 SKU, suggesting it could have been an opportunity for higher revenue, though potentially with fewer players angry about the price.
Sales Volume Forecasts
Predicting total launch units is difficult. If "normal" preorder trajectories were used, the current 4 million preorders would imply over 40 million by launch. However, Kontus suspects preorders are frontloaded and actual numbers might land closer to 25 million units.
"For comparison, Cyberpunk 2077 announced 8 million preorders by launch," he says. "25 million preorder units would mean circa $2 billion in sales by the time the game actually launches – immediately paying for its development cost and probably for the vast majority of the marketing as well".
Currently, Sensor Tower's tracker shows 4.3 million preorders for GTA6: 77% on PlayStation versus 23% on Xbox.
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