GTA 6's Download Size Could Be A Major Problem For Some Players

It's officially less than one month until the launch of "Grand Theft Auto 6," and millions of gamers across the globe are chomping at the bit to set foot in Vice City. While Rockstar Games has slowly been feeding the community new looks at the game, either through the Netflix Extended Showcase or their cinematic trailers packed with secret details, there are still plenty of unknowns about "GTA 6." However, some of those unknowns have been (at least potentially) cleared up by leaks from the now-infamous leaker, Cyberleek, who continues to prove they are in possession of an actual copy of the game.

Even though Cyberleek went off the grid for a brief period, they returned in October to deliver even more leaked gameplay and details. The highlights from the leaks were shots of Jason and Lucia in their birthday suits, but Cyberleek also shed light on various pieces of background information for "GTA 6." Specifically, the leaker has seemingly confirmed the total file download size for "GTA 6," and it might be larger than some players can handle.

According to Cyberleek, the development build of "GTA 6" that they have been using to record gameplay has a total download size of right around 200 GB. Naturally, every piece of information that stems from Cyberleek must be taken with a proper pebble of salt. It's unclear what version of "GTA 6" they have in their possession, how they got hold of it, and how it differs from the public version of the game that will be released on Nov. 19.

Still, with how much confirmed gameplay that Cyberleek has released up to this point, their reports do carry some merit. It also doesn't seem far-fetched to assume that "GTA 6" will, in fact, have a total file size of 200 GB, as Rockstar Games has showcased that "GTA 6" will be one of the most dense and in-depth games ever made. A huge download was already anticipated by many players, but the leaked report remains a bit steeper than the general expectation. 

We can take a look at the file size for "Red Dead Redemption 2," Rockstar's last title, to establish a benchmark, and it paints a similar picture. The total file size for that game at launch was around 125 GB on PlayStation and Xbox and 150 GB on PC. Given that "Red Dead Redemption 2" was released eight years ago and features a much smaller map than Leonida in "GTA 6," a 200 GB file size becomes fairly easy to believe for Rockstar's newest game.

If this leak from Cyberleek turns out to be correct and players do need 200 GB of free disk space to download "GTA 6," it could present some huge problems for some players. For starters, a base PlayStation 5 has around 665 GB of usable space, an Xbox Series X has roughly 800 GB, and the Xbox Series S has 365 GB. This doesn't take into account other games, files, or media applications installed on the consoles, either. One console that likely won't have issues is the PS5 Pro, which has a whopping 1.86 TB of usable space.

So, for most players to comfortably download this rumored package size for "GTA 6," they'll need to make some big sacrifices when it comes to uninstalling other applications. If you're using a base PS5, for example, "GTA 6" takes up nearly one-third of your entire storage capacity, leaving you room for maybe two or three other games. However, if you're using an Xbox Series S, you have to allocate over half the console's storage capacity to "GTA 6" alone.

While most gamers who have pre-ordered "GTA 6" won't think twice about deleting some games to make room for it, the supposed 200 GB file size could be a deal-breaker for players undecided about buying it or not. Of course, the rumor from Cyberleek could still turn out to be incorrect, with retail finalizations offering a more optimized download. The official "GTA 6" pre-load date is set for Nov. 12, so we'll find out then how much storage space it requires.