Fans begin downloading the “GTA VI” event video game, ahead of its November 19 release

American studio Rockstar Games put its highly anticipated video game “GTA VI” online on Monday to allow players to download it before they can play it on November 19, the day of the official worldwide release.

From midday Paris time (midnight in New Zealand), players were able to begin retrieving game data on their console based on their time zone, with the game available for download from midnight local time. They will only be able to play it from November 19 at midnight in their country.

Available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, the game weighs approximately 212 gigabytes, making it one of the largest video games at launch. This represents between several tens of minutes to several hours of downloading, depending on the quality of the connection. Also a way for Rockstar not to saturate the servers in the face of very high demand: two weeks before its release, nearly 8 million units had already been pre-ordered, according to the analysis firm Sensor Tower.

The American publisher Take-Two, parent company of Rockstar, described the level of pre-orders as “exceptional” at the beginning of August, without providing figures. Players who have opted for a physical version of the game will be able to pick it up in stores from Thursday, November 12. The game box will only contain a download code. No discs will be included, Rockstar warned.

“GTA VI” is sold at 79.99 euros in its standard version, and 99.99 euros for its version containing various in-game bonuses such as new weapons and cars. The new opus of this gangster saga, which has sold more than 475 million copies worldwide since its launch in 1997, has been awaited by fans for almost 13 years. Released in 2013, the previous episode, “GTA V”, sold more than 230 million units according to Take-Two Interactive. According to observers, it will be the largest launch of an entertainment product in history in terms of revenue generated.