GTA 6 could drain nearly $1 billion from the US economy, and Take-Two’s CEO already joked about the reason

Grand Theft Auto VI’s upcoming launch could cost the US economy nearly $1 billion, with an estimated 1.5 million workers expected to call out sick on release day. As reported by The Hill, many Americans have reportedly said they plan to take a sick day to play the game.

The projection comes from José García Montalvo, an economics professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. He arrived at the figure by estimating that 1.5 million workers would call out sick, then factoring in an average annual output of about $70,000 per worker. His number is an academic projection rather than an official forecast.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick had already joked about the possibility months earlier. Speaking at the iicon conference in Las Vegas on April 28, he said, “I think a lot of people will be calling in sick on November 19,” as detailed by NME.

Take-Two’s boss saw this one coming

Zelnick made the remark while discussing how Take-Two would measure the game’s success. He said that “if we’re of service to our customers, then the upside will take care of itself,” before adding the line about sick days.

This is not the first time a Grand Theft Auto release has affected the workforce. When Grand Theft Auto V launched in 2013, reports indicated that as many as 6% of workers aged 18 to 35 in cities like Los Angeles and New York took the day off.

Fans of the long-running crime-action series have been awaiting Grand Theft Auto VI since Rockstar Games officially unveiled it in February 2022. The game’s gameplay and map were also leaked online by a hacker in August, ahead of launch.

The game is currently available for preorder and is priced at $79.99. Grand Theft Auto VI follows a criminal couple as they navigate the fictional state of Leonida, based on details shared by Rockstar Games.

Grand Theft Auto VI was originally slated for a 2025 release before Rockstar pushed it to May 26, 2026. The studio then delayed it again, and the game is now scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

The game is the long-awaited follow-up to Grand Theft Auto V, which was released in 2013.