Grand Theft Auto VI is already putting broadband infrastructure to the test, more than a week before its November 19 release. The game’s unusually large download and concentrated pre-loading period have produced record traffic for one major UK provider and localized congestion for another.
Rockstar Games opened digital pre-loading on November 10 for customers who had pre-ordered Grand Theft Auto VI. The download can require up to approximately 212 GB, depending on the platform, giving players an opportunity to install the game before launch day. The increased demand has already affected at least one internet provider. UK ISP YouFibre warned customers that high demand for GTA VI downloads had created a network capacity issue, reducing overall download speeds. CEO Jeremy Chelot separately said that congestion was affecting customers around Yorkshire while the company worked to rebalance traffic at one of its network gateways. The reported disruption was regional; it does not establish a nationwide internet outage.
Virgin Media O2, meanwhile, reported record-breaking 24 hours on its UK broadband network on November 10. The company said its previous peak-traffic record was exceeded by 3.8%, while total daily data volume surpassed its previous record by 4%. Those records were associated with the rush to pre-load GTA VI. The company’s release contains inconsistent figures for the increase during the first hour of pre-loading, so that statistic is excluded here. Additional figures from Openreach provide broader view of the demand. The UK network operator reported approximately 378 petabytes of total downstream traffic across its network on November 10, representing a 32.9% increase over an average Tuesday. This is a measure of overall network traffic, not a count of data attributable exclusively to GTA VI downloads.
In the United States, Comcast has taken promotional approach to the expected demand. The company announced a 15-day WiFi speed boost of up to 2 Gbps for eligible Xfinity customers. Comcast said the maximum speed could allow a 212 GB download to complete in as little as 30 minutes, although actual download times depend on the customer’s connection, equipment, and other network conditions. The pre-load figures demonstrate how a major game release can affect broadband providers beyond the gaming platforms distributing the files. The available reports show record traffic and a localized congestion incident, rather than evidence that the internet as a whole has been overwhelmed.
With GTA VI scheduled to unlock on November 19, another period of elevated demand is possible, particularly among players who have not pre-loaded the game or who need to download launch-day updates. Whether that produces further provider-specific congestion remains to be seen.