GTA 6 launches November 19 and could trigger a wave of days off and quiet absenteeism, JeuxVideo.com reports, though the $1 billion productivity loss figure is an unverified estimate.
Sources jeuxvideo.com
November 19 is a Thursday, and plenty of players already have a plan for Friday. According to JeuxVideo.com, the GTA 6 launch is fueling fears of simultaneous leave requests and hidden absenteeism at companies.
The reasoning is simple: teenagers who discovered GTA V in 2013 are now in their thirties and forties, working as engineers, technicians and managers, and they have waited thirteen years for the sequel. JeuxVideo.com notes that every cultural blockbuster brings up absenteeism, but this community makes it more sensitive. In tech, some managers are reportedly already considering looser schedules or tolerating a temporary dip in activity.
Some models mention more than $1 billion of lost productivity for a market like the US. The site is careful: it calls it a speculative estimate, widely shared on social media after remarks by Spanish economist José García Montalvo on Cadena SER. No published study is cited. The number mostly measures anticipation, not a forecast.
Per JeuxVideo.com, NBA player Steven Adams joked on the X account Oh No He Didn't that league performances will drop in November because GTA is coming out. More concrete: the 9th Engineer Combat Battalion of the US 3rd Infantry Division reportedly promised dozens of soldiers an extended weekend timed to the launch in exchange for a long-term reenlistment. The article gives no exact figure or official document, so treat it accordingly.
Read also GTA 6: Activision names Call of Duty MW4 as 2026's other big game, not Zelda
The facts have not moved: release on November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, preload from November 12, as laid out on our release page. The exact unlock time is unknown, as we explained in our piece on the release time.
For players, nothing concrete: no company has announced an official measure. But the anecdote says something about the game's cultural weight. When an army and HR departments discuss it, GTA 6 is no longer just a product, it is a date on the collective calendar.
Sources jeuxvideo.com
By Chloé · GTAVIFRANCE newsroom
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