GTA 6 preload: when it starts, how long it takes, and the two settings that stop it stalling
Preloading opens on 12 November, a week before launch. On a typical home connection the download is an overnight job, and a console that falls asleep halfway through is how people miss launch night.
Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out on 19 November, but launch night is really decided a week earlier. Preloading opens on 12 November, and if the game is on your console by the 18th, midnight is a button press. If it is not, it is a download competing with everyone else on your street.
When preloading starts
The date, 12 November, is Rockstar's, and it applies to digital pre-orders and to the boxed edition, which contains a download code rather than a disc and ships the same day.
The hour is less certain. Several launch guides say Rockstar Support puts the start at midnight local time, and that would mirror the release itself. We could not find anyone quoting the support page directly, so treat midnight as likely rather than confirmed. In practice it does not matter much: you have seven days.
How long the download takes
Rockstar has not published a file size. Estimates cluster around 150 to 200GB. At 200GB, best case, with nothing else on the line:
- 1 Gbps: about half an hour
- 500 Mbps: about an hour
- 100 Mbps: about four and a half hours
- 50 Mbps: about nine hours
- 25 Mbps: most of a day
Real downloads run slower than the line speed, especially on Wi-Fi and especially on a night when everybody is pulling the same file. The first evening of a preload window is busy. The third is not.
The two settings that stop it stalling
Most failed preloads are not slow connections. They are consoles that went to sleep.
On PS5, open Settings, then System, then Power Saving, then Features Available in Rest Mode, and switch on Stay Connected to the Internet. Then, under Saved Data and Game/App Settings, make sure Auto-Downloads is on. With both set, a digital pre-order downloads by itself in rest mode. If it has not started, find GTA 6 in your Game Library and choose Download.
On Xbox Series X and S, open Settings, then General, then Power options, and make sure the console is set to Sleep rather than Shut down, which cuts the network. Then check that Keep my games and apps up to date is ticked. The preload appears in My games and apps, under the queue.
Plug the console into the router with a cable if you can. It is the single biggest speed-up available, and it costs a few euros.
Make room first
Clear about 250GB before 12 November. That covers the high end of the estimates plus a day-one patch. On a 512GB Xbox Series S, which has about 364GB usable, that is most of the drive. Our SSD guide covers when adding storage beats deleting games.
What preloading does not do
A preload puts the files on your drive. It does not let you play early. The game unlocks at midnight in your store region, and until then the icon is locked. There will almost certainly be a patch on the day, so expect a short final download at launch even with a finished preload.
What is not known
The exact preload hour, the real install size, and the size of the day-one patch. This page will be updated as each is published, most likely in the week before 12 November when the store listings start showing a size.
Sources
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