The takeaway: The 2026 holiday season will be here before you know it, but this year could look vastly different than anything we've seen before thanks to the imminent launch of what's likely to be the biggest entertainment release in history: Grand Theft Auto VI.
Hardcore gamers and casuals alike have had November 19 circled on their calendars for months, and for good reason. On the third Thursday of the month, Rockstar is scheduled to launch Grand Theft Auto 6 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. Fans have been waiting over a decade for a new entry in the popular series, and some aren't planning to waste any time when it drops.
Bud Burruss, a 36-year-old software engineer, told The Wall Street Journal that he plans to take five days off work the week before Thanksgiving – not to plan for the holiday, but to play GTA VI. "I'm not going to be playing it for, like, 20 hours straight like an absentee father. But right out of the gate we're going hard," he said.
Burruss intends to hit the hay early on Wednesday night and wake up around 1 or 2 a.m. on Thursday and start playing. He's already got his camera ready to capture gameplay footage for his YouTube channel.
Anna Ray, a 30-year-old medical-sales representative and pro wrestler, plans to take off Thursday through Thursday and said she will even prepare meals in advance so she can have more time to game.
Guilherme Stephano, a 34-year-old civil servant from Brazil, plans to cash in 10 days of vacation time. That's less than the 20 days he took off to grind Red Dead Redemption 2 out of the gate in 2018, but is still significant.
Rockstar launched an extended preview of GTA 6 last week, and fans have been combing over the footage ever since. I've seen several people describe it as less of a game and more of a place; or a life simulator where you can do everything from heart-racing missions to mundane side activities. It's not universally loved, mind you, but it's likely that enough people will be interested to set all sorts of new entertainment and media records.