Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a CNBC Squawk Box interview that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI are skewing toward the $100 Ultimate Edition rather than the $80 Standard Edition. He did not provide a specific pre-order figure.
The interview offers a narrow but notable indication of how the earliest buyers are choosing between the two editions. Zelnick attributed the premium-edition skew to the fact that the most avid consumers are the ones pre-ordering at this stage. That qualification matters: the available information describes the preferences of early purchasers, not a complete breakdown of demand across all prospective buyers.
What the premium-edition skew means
The Ultimate Edition is the higher-priced option and is associated with exclusive content, including vehicles, weapon variants, stores, and side activities. The early tilt toward that edition suggests that buyers placing orders now are opting for the expanded package despite its higher price.
It does not, however, establish how large the gap is between the Ultimate and Standard editions. Without pre-order totals or a ratio between the two versions, there is no way to determine how lopsided the split may be. The available comment also does not show whether the same pattern will hold as the November 19, 2026 release date approaches and a broader group of buyers begins making purchase decisions.
Release context
Take-Two reaffirmed that GTA 6 is scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, while maintaining its fiscal 2027 bookings outlook of $8 billion to $8.2 billion. The company’s current pre-order information remains limited to the qualitative indication that the premium edition is leading among early customers.
For now, the clearest takeaway is that the $100 Ultimate Edition is attracting the most committed early pre-order buyers. Whether that remains true across the full run-up to launch will require more detailed sales information than Take-Two has publicly shared.
