GTA VI Reportedly Needs a 210GB Download on PS5

Rockstar Games' long-awaited open-world title Grand Theft Auto VI reportedly carries a 210GB download size on PlayStation 5. The claim comes from a data-mining account called PlayStation Game Size, which tracks game sizes, and another source has backed up the figure. It is not based on any official announcement.

It is also unclear whether the number refers to the total storage space needed to install the game or only to the game's own files. Installation files temporarily take up disk space during setup, so the real requirement could differ from the stated figure. Either way, 210GB would take a serious bite out of a console's storage.

How it compares with Rockstar's previous game

For context, Red Dead Redemption 2 asked for 149GB of free space on PS4 when it launched in 2018. The claimed 210GB is 61GB more than that. Rockstar has previously made clear that Grand Theft Auto VI will be a very large game, so a big download would not be surprising.

The picture looks starker on other hardware. A standard 512GB Xbox Series S offers roughly 362GB of usable space, meaning a 210GB game would take up more than half of it on its own. Players with limited storage may need to review what else they have installed.

The pre-load and release date claims

According to the same account, the standard edition will cost $79.99. It also claims pre-loading will begin on November 12, with the game becoming playable at midnight on November 19. The price and dates rest solely on that account's post and have not been confirmed by any official statement.

If a day-one patch is added on top, players may be left downloading only the necessary files for much of launch day. Freeing up storage ahead of release and starting the pre-load early therefore looks sensible. Pre-loading lets players download a game's files to their console before the on-sale date, and it is now a widely used practice.

Why game sizes keep growing

For big-budget games, this is hardly a shock. As graphical standards have risen and online multiplayer features and open-world structures have become commonplace, install sizes have climbed quickly.

Developers have taken various steps to rein in that growth. Activision, for example, split Warzone off from the annual Call of Duty releases into a separate package. Even so, the problem has not been fully solved.