GTA VI Physical Pre-Orders May Start May 18, Best Buy Leak Suggests

Multiple sources have confirmed that Best Buy sent out an email alert for Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders early, marking a May 18th start date for pre-orders of the physical PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game. This timing is six months ahead of the November 19th launch date and follows just days after Sony began prompting PS4 players to make the leap to PS5 for the game. This suggests that, contrary to other rumors, Grand Theft Auto VI's release may in fact locked in for November, and retailers like Best Buy can now prepare for initial shipments of the game, though we suppose there is still a chance of yet another delay.

GTA 6 pre-order is now confirmed for May 18, 2026. 🔥

Multiple people on the internet are claiming that they received an affiliate email from Best Buy regarding GTA 6 pre-order campaign. pic.twitter.com/BwdYkonFEK

— Grand Theft Auto 6 Alerts (@GTA6Alerts) May 14, 2026

Among the sources and outlets confirming the email, which was part of Best Buy's exclusive Creators program and not for all of its affiliates, is Insider Gaming, who "independently verified" the authenticity of the email. What remains unclear is if this is really a "leak" on Best Buy's part or simply an example of "Creators" being prioritized among a larger group of affiliates.

While Best Buy pre-orders do seem to open on May 18th, it also seems that the Creators promotional period for the pre-orders only runs through May 21st. This doesn't mean that pre-orders will close after just three days, but rather that Creators will only receive a 5% commission from their affiliate links for that span of time. Hopefully Best Buy opens up the campaign to its other affiliates ahead of launch: it'd be a nice way for it to reward all of its existing affiliate partners rather than just a few.

In any case, there will surely be interesting insights to glean once retailers have data regarding pre-orders. How many players will opt for the physical Xbox Series X version over the PlayStation 5 version? (Reminder: While Xbox Series S is a digital-only console, it will also be the cheapest way to access the game ahead of the yet-unknown PC launch date.) Will sales of PlayStation and Xbox consoles also see a boost from the GTA VI hype? We look forward to finding out.