GTA 6 Teen Survey: 70% Plan to Buy and 90% Want GTA Online, a Mode Rockstar Hasn't Confirmed
American teenagers are clearly ready for Grand Theft Auto VI, and most of them want to take it online. Investment bank Piper Sandler polled roughly 9,000 US teens, and according to GameSpot's November 4, 2026 report, 70% of respondents who own a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S plan to buy the game. The catch: among those planning to buy, 90% say they intend to play GTA Online, a mode Rockstar still hasn't announced for GTA VI.
The key numbers
Here's what the survey found, per GameSpot:
- 70% of current-gen console owners plan to buy GTA 6.
- 55% plan to buy it right away, while 15% will wait several months.
- 90% of would-be buyers intend to play GTA Online.
- 40% expect to make additional in-game purchases.
These are statements of intent from a survey, not sales figures. Still, they line up with earlier data: GameSpot notes that Circana found nearly one in three US console and PC gamers plan to buy GTA 6, the highest purchase intent the research firm has ever measured.
GTA Online for GTA 6 is not confirmed
That 90% figure is the headline, but it describes something that doesn't officially exist yet. As GameSpot points out, retail listings describe GTA VI as a "single-player experience," and Rockstar has not announced an online mode for the new game. Given how GTA Online carried GTA V for more than a decade, expectations are understandable, but for now any multiplayer component remains unannounced.
What the analyst took from it
Vice Dispatch reports, citing the Piper Sandler note, that the survey points to an implied initial paying-user rate of about 44%, which Piper considers higher than comparable platforms. The note also flags a wrinkle: roughly 21% of the current-gen consoles in the survey belong to teens who own both a PS5 and an Xbox, which Piper treats as a drag on unit estimates, since one player can only count as one buyer.
Even so, according to the same report, analyst Callahan kept his expectation of more than 45 million units at launch, along with an overweight rating and a $290 price target on Take-Two. Vice Dispatch adds that Take-Two shares rose about 1.5% in premarket trading after the note.
What's next
- November 10, 2026: digital pre-load opens, per the Rockstar Newswire. Make room for up to 212GB; our pre-load guide has the details.
- November 19, 2026: GTA VI launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Demand isn't in doubt: early sales tracking already looked huge, as we covered in our pre-orders report. The bigger open question is whether Rockstar will say anything about online play before launch. We'll update you if it does.
