GTA 6 Preload Causes Record Internet Traffic Ahead Of Global Launch

Major internet service providers have reported historic jumps in network activity after preload opened on November 10.

12 Nov 2026, 04:55 · NDTV

The countdown to Grand Theft Auto 6 has led to a massive frenzy. Millions of players rushed to preload the game after it opened on November 10, apparently overloading the internet, Gadget Review reported. According to PC Games Hardware, the download is up to 212GB according to Rockstar's figures, and the game's file size has pushed internet infrastructure in parts of the world to its absolute limits.

The preload opened at midnight local time on November 10 on PS5. Meanwhile, it opened at midnight GMT on Xbox Series X|S. The game is scheduled to come out on November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

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Isolated cases of data spikes

So far, it appears that the issues, like slow speeds and congestion, have been reported in just a few places. Some reports even used the term 'outages', but there was no service loss.

According to the media outlet, the internet providers in the UK and Denmark have reported record or unusually high traffic.

In the United Kingdom, Virgin Media O2 noted that data volumes hit an all-time high.

According to The Independent, the broadband traffic surged dramatically, jumping 51% higher compared to the previous week, during the early morning hours. It climbed even higher during the day.

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Photo Credit: Unsplash

Similarly, European providers like Denmark's GlobalConnect reported that nighttime traffic spiked roughly 50% above normal averages. They didn't report any outages.

Overseas, certain US internet providers even rolled out temporary high-speed data boosts to help customers manage the download.

As quoted by The Copenhagen Post, Jakob Dirksen, the chief operating officer of Danish network operator GlobalConnect, said that one download equals roughly 50 to 100 hours of normal streaming.

While the vast majority of players downloaded the files smoothly, the sudden surge did cause minor hiccups for smaller networks.

UK-based provider YouFibre experienced localised capacity issues, particularly in areas like Yorkshire, after users attempted to download the game at the same time.

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