Rockstar Games hasn’t officially confirmed anything yet, but some players haven’t waited to make their own calculations. One user sums up the current trend on the forums: “I would bet on over 200 GB on day one, with an additional 60-80 GB for online mode”
If this estimate is true, it would make GTA 6 one of the heaviest games in the history of video games, on console and PC. A legitimate concern, especially for gamers who still use classic mechanical hard drives on their machine.
Rockstar facing heavyweights like Call of Duty and Ark
To put things into perspective, several members of the community point out that Rockstar knows how to optimize its productions. “Rockstar optimizes its games. The developers of Ark Survival, for example, have a game that reaches 450 GB with all DLC because they refuse to intelligently optimize file sizes.
The example of Ark: Survival Evolved comes up often, as does that of Call of Duty, whose recent editions regularly exceed 200 GB due to updates, texture packs, side modes, etc.
GTA 6 will be based on an improved version of the RAGE engine, already used for Red Dead Redemption 2. The latter weighed around 110 GB after updates. A solid base, but which suggests an increase for his successor.
What Players Expect: Maximum Safety Margin
On Reddit, players generally agree on an average size of 130 to 150 GB at launch. But out of caution, some plan much larger: “It won’t be 200 GB, maybe 130-150 GB, but I will make sure to have more than 200 GB just for online updates.” This reflex has become almost systematic: with recent games, it is better to release much more than necessary, especially when DLC or a massive multiplayer mode are expected. GTA Online 2 (if it is integrated well at launch) could increase the numbers quickly.
A word of advice: make room now
GTA 6 is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026. Those who plan to get it on the big day should start preparing their machine. “If you have not yet changed the hard drive (HDD or SSD) of your console, this may be the ideal time to take advantage of it” Because if the trend continues, even a 500 GB SSD could find itself saturated. Anticipating the necessary space therefore becomes a real subject… well before even discovering the gameplay.