[UPDATE - May 17, 2026] According to new rumors, while the affiliate email was indeed legitimate, Rockstar Games won't be opening GTA 6 pre-orders on Monday. Furthermore, it seems that the studio won't be sending review codes to media ahead of the November 19 launch and will instead rely on a review event at a secure location.
[ORIGINAL STORY] Rockstar Games might be very close to opening the GTA 6 pre-order campaign. The rumor comes from multiple gamers who, as reported by YouTuber Frogboyx1Gaming, received a Best Buy affiliate email referencing a "GTA 6 Pre-Order (Physical Game)" promotional window running May 18–21, 2026, with a 5% affiliate commission offer. To clarify, this is the promotional window for the aforementioned commission for Best Buy affiliates, not the GTA 6 pre-order period, which will predictably continue until the launch date of November 19.
The email looks like an internal affiliate marketing slip, similar to how retailers have accidentally revealed release dates in the past. Other users from popular gaming forums like ResetEra, GTA Forums, and Cheap Ass Gamer also confirmed receiving the same email, making it unlikely to be an outright fabrication.
The timing aligns with Take-Two's earnings call, which is already scheduled to take place shortly after market close on Thursday, May 21. This schedule actually reinforces the "leak" if we imagine the following strategy from the publisher:
- May 18 (Monday) — Pre-orders go live, affiliate window opens, media cycle explodes
- May 19–20 — Pre-order numbers accumulate over the news cycle
- May 21 (Thursday) — Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick opens the earnings call by announcing that GTA 6 has broken every pre-order record in history in four days (extremely likely)
The earnings call becomes a victory lap rather than just a guidance update, the stock gets a double catalyst (pre-order momentum plus earnings), and the GTA 6 hype machine runs at full steam heading into the November launch window.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Zelnick dismissed rumors of a third delay with a casual mention that many gamers would be calling in sick on November 19. A few days later, we learned from verified Glassdoor reviews that Rockstar was working at a hard crunch to meet the game's launch date.
If the leak turns out to be true, we're mere days away from learning the truth behind the pricing of Grand Theft Auto 6. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter famously scared gamers worldwide by suggesting Rockstar and Take-Two could get away with asking $100, but since then, several analysts have argued the opposite. Even Bank of America would like it to cost $80.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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