Devoted gamers set for mass sick-out on GTA VI launch day

Key Points:

• Grand Theft Auto VI, after nearly 13 years in development, is set to release on November 19 and has already surpassed $1 billion in presales, making it the most preordered game on Xbox and PlayStation with over 12 million copies sold worldwide.
• Approximately 18% of US workers plan to take the day off to play the game, with half calling in sick rather than requesting time off, potentially costing the US economy $1 billion in lost productivity.
• Experts predict GTA VI could generate $3 billion or more in its first weeks, rivaling major entertainment launches like "Avengers: Endgame," with further revenue expected from the multiplayer GTA Online mode and microtransactions.
• The UK and Canada are also experiencing increased time-off requests for the release date, and heavy pre-download traffic has caused internet slowdowns, prompting providers like Spectrum and Xfinity to offer temporary speed boosts to gamers.
• Due to the game's large size (212 gigabytes), download times may vary from 30 minutes to several days depending on internet speeds, impacting players' readiness for launch day.