GTA 6 launch-loss report resurfaces with unsourced claims
A July 2025 Cadena SER report on absenteeism around the GTA 6 launch is circulating again with added figures not in the original.
A Cadena SER report from July 2025 about economic losses from employees skipping work for the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI has resurfaced online, with versions that add claims not found in the original article, according to Automaton Media. The renewed circulation comes as the game's release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S approaches on November 19, 2026.
The re-circulated versions state that economist José García Montalvo of Pompeu Fabra University said USD 1 billion in losses would occur, that 1.5 million Americans would be absent on launch day and that US productivity would fall 2%. Cadena SER's original report gave no clear basis for its own prediction of a USD 1 billion loss on the first day in the US.
The Spanish outlet's July 2025 piece featured interviews with economists including Montalvo about absenteeism expected around the GTA 6 launch, when the release date was still May 26, 2026. Montalvo said those taking time off would mainly be men aged 18 to 30, with the tech industry most affected because remote work makes it easier to skip work, and cited National Bureau of Economic Research findings on gaming's share of young men's leisure time.
Leave requests already being filed
The Wall Street Journal has published testimony from gamers across occupations who plan vacation around November 19. A battalion at the Fort Stewart army base in Georgia offers four days of leave to soldiers who re-enlist between August 1 and November 14 so they can be off on launch day; 44 of 130 eligible soldiers had applied, according to Lt. Col. Angel Tomko. At least one company reportedly made launch day a holiday after many employees requested it off.
Cadena SER previously reported that about 6% of people aged 18 to 35 in New York and Los Angeles took time off work on the weekend of Grand Theft Auto V's 2013 launch, and similar launch-day vacation memes appeared around Red Dead Redemption 2, Starfield, Elden Ring and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Quick answers
When does Grand Theft Auto VI come out?
Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Where did the USD 1 billion GTA 6 absenteeism figure come from?
A July 2025 Cadena SER report predicted a USD 1 billion first-day loss in the US without giving a clear basis; later re-circulated versions added claims attributed to economist José García Montalvo that are not in the original article.