GTA VI has opened for pre-loading ahead of its November 19 release, with its approximately 212GB download size driving a significant increase in network traffic across many European countries. A large number of players who pre-ordered are downloading the game to their PS5 consoles in advance, making it the most pre-ordered title in PlayStation Store history.
German internet service provider 1&1 stated that traffic to PlayStation Network and Xbox Live reached ten times the usual level during the night of November 9–10, with Vodafone also observing traffic peaks during the same period. A business manager at Sweden's GlobalConnect noted a 50% increase in local traffic on the night pre-loading began, and service providers in Denmark and Estonia reported similar situations.
UK-based Virgin Media O2 reported that data usage and traffic both hit record highs on November 10, driven by pre-loading for GTA VI. US carrier Spectrum launched a temporary speed boost campaign, allowing eligible users to upgrade to 1Gbps for free, while those already on the 1Gbps plan could increase to 2Gbps to reduce download times.
The data disclosed by various operators uses different statistical methods and cannot be directly compared. However, these figures all indicate that the concentrated pre-loading of GTA VI has created cross-regional network peaks even before the official release.