GTA 6 launches on 19 November on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, 29 days from today. This week Miami-Dade commissioners postponed the county’s next deals with Rockstar, Citi floated a new Red Dead for 2027 or 2028, and Sensor Tower put GTA 6’s US digital pre-orders 148% ahead of Modern Warfare 2’s. Elsewhere, Modern Warfare 4’s campaign opened early for pre-order holders, Alinea estimated Ghost of Yōtei at 5.4 million copies, and the physical games debate gained a former PlayStation boss and a US congressman.
Miami-Dade postpones the next Rockstar deals
Miami-Dade County signed a $975,000 agreement with Rockstar for the “Welcome to Vice City” sign on the roof of the Kaseya Center, which went up in September. The figure sits $25,000 under the $1 million threshold above which the mayor needs the county commission’s approval, so Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signed it herself. On 19 October the Goodyear Blimp flew over downtown in a Vice City wrap, in a post co-signed by Rockstar and Goodyear on X.
Commission chair Anthony Rodriguez proposed letting the mayor negotiate larger Rockstar activations on county assets, including Miami International Airport, PortMiami and the transit system. Commissioners postponed the vote, Political Cortadito reported on 14 October, and the proposal can return. Commissioner René Garcia’s objection, as quoted by the Miami Herald, was “We’re depicting Miami like a murder capital.” Rodriguez’s answer, per GameSpot: “We recognize it’s just a game.” The mayor’s chief of staff, Chris Hudtwalcker, who led the negotiations, calls the game a love letter to Miami, and the mayor’s office says talks with Rockstar continue.
GameSpot’s round-up of the wider campaign (wrapped cars with Leonida plates on Miami streets, branded beach chairs, a Times Square billboard) is sourced to fan and news accounts on social media. Our GTA VI hub keeps the confirmed list.
Pre-orders: 148% ahead of Modern Warfare 2, Sensor Tower estimates
Sensor Tower data reported by GamesIndustry.biz and GameSpot on 20 October has GTA 6’s US digital pre-orders pacing 148% ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s at the same point before launch. Modern Warfare 2 (2022) had the most pre-orders of the four games Sensor Tower compared; the others were Diablo 4, Hogwarts Legacy and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, all 2023. The tracker put GTA 6 at 6.08 million digital pre-orders and about $594 million in revenue as of 13 October, split 74% PlayStation 5 and 26% Xbox Series X|S, with most buyers on the $99.99 Ultimate Edition. The data covers US digital storefronts. We score the estimate Likely: Sensor Tower is a named firm with a track record, and the number is modelled from storefront data, as neither Rockstar nor Take-Two has published a pre-order figure.
GameSpot also published its list of the records it expects GTA 6 to break: GTA V’s $800 million in 24 hours and $1 billion in three days, and Red Dead Redemption 2’s $725 million opening weekend. These are GameSpot’s forecasts.
Citi says a 2027 or 2028 Red Dead “may not be unreasonable”
A Citi note on Rockstar, reported by Yahoo Finance and picked up by GameSpot on 16 October, says a new Red Dead releasing in 2027 or 2028 “may not be unreasonable” if GTA 6 did not cost the $1.5 billion that has been claimed, a figure Rockstar has denied. GameSpot’s own view is that the timeline is wishful thinking: Rockstar has worked on one project at a time since it moved staff from GTA 6 to Red Dead Redemption 2, and GTA 6’s post-launch support and the next GTA Online will absorb the studio. We log the note as an analyst projection in the Rumour Ledger.
Modern Warfare 4: campaign out early, full launch 23 October
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s campaign unlocked on 16 October for pre-order holders, with the new DMZ following on 20 October. Multiplayer and the full release arrive on 23 October on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC. Infinity Ward asked players to keep the story to themselves: “Let everyone experience it for themselves,” then “Time to go dark.”
IGN’s campaign review, by Simon Cardy, concludes: “It may not have quite enough to be considered amongst the very best Call of Duty campaigns, but if it’s to be the end of this particular saga, then at least Modern Warfare is going out on a high note.” IGN has also published an explainer on Captain Price’s fate, which carries spoilers.
Ghost of Yōtei: 5.4 million copies, Alinea estimates
Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliott put Ghost of Yōtei at about 5.4 million copies and $407 million in revenue in a post on X on 16 October, reported by IGN. By the same point in its life, Ghost of Tsushima had made about $418 million from nearly 7 million copies, on a $60 price against Yōtei’s $70 and with earlier discounts. Yōtei has sold 1.8 million copies this year with two small discounts. These are Alinea’s estimates; Sony said in February that Yōtei had exceeded Tsushima’s sales without giving a number. For PlayStation pricing, see our PlayStation Store sales page.
Physical games: Kutaragi backs the disc cut, Torres drafts a bill
Ken Kutaragi, the former PlayStation executive, told VGC that Sony’s decision to stop producing PS5 discs for new games from January 2028 makes economic sense. “I don’t think it’s economically reasonable [to continue to support discs]. Maybe it’s a mentality issue,” he said, adding that he understands why players are upset.
In Washington, Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, said he will introduce the Power To The Players Act, which would have the Federal Trade Commission write rules protecting buyers’ ability to own and play the games they pay for, and require offline modes before online games are shut down. “A game that can be taken away the moment a company pulls the plug is not a purchase. It is a rental disguised as a sale,” Torres said, per PC Gamer. Bloober Team’s commitment to physical releases was covered in last week’s round-up.
Quick hits
Leak, unconfirmed: footage found in developer portfolios by MP1st, reported by IGN, appears to show a cancelled Assassin’s Creed game called Assassin’s Creed Destiny, set in Qin dynasty China and built for consoles and PC.
Steam Next Fest has more than 8,000 demos this time, per PC Gamer’s weekly Steam review.
World of Warcraft: Forever runs a free stress test today, 21 October, from 2 p.m. PT (midnight in Nairobi), open to anyone with a Battle.net account. Characters made during the test are deleted afterwards. The game launches on 4 November.
Which of these will you still be talking about when GTA 6 lands? Come and argue it out in the PlayTheory Discord.