The release of the highly anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto VI, scheduled for November 19, 2026, could cause a significant drop in productivity worldwide. Millions of gamers, including IT professionals and engineers, are planning to take vacations or sick leave to immerse themselves in the game immediately after its release.
The release of the highly anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto VI, scheduled for November 19, 2026, could cause a significant drop in productivity worldwide. Millions of gamers, including IT professionals and engineers, are planning to take vacations or sick leave to immerse themselves in the game immediately after its release.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the threat of mass layoffs amid the hype surrounding the title.
The game has already received about 5 million pre-orders worldwide. For many IT and related professionals, release day becomes an unofficial holiday, for which they are ready to put work on hold for a week.
«We’re going to have a few days where we’re like, 'Dad’s really busy.' I’m going to close the door to my 'cave' and we’re going to play hard from the start,» said software engineer Bud Burruss, who plans to take at least five days off after the release.
Analysts say that even after workers return to their desks, productivity will remain depressed. A survey of 2,000 gamers found that late-night gaming sessions result in at least two hours of productive work time lost the next day due to fatigue.
The release of Grand Theft Auto VI will be the first full-fledged part of the cult franchise from Rockstar Games in the last 13 years — the previous title, GTA V, was released back in September 2013. The official announcement of the sixth part took place after a long development and several postponements, which made the game the most anticipated game release of the decade.
Recall that the extended gameplay preview of Grand Theft Auto VI on the streaming platform Netflix caused a rapid increase in the number of pre-orders. In just one day, demand for the long-awaited game increased by more than 400%, with the PlayStation 5 console becoming the absolute leader in the number of reservations.
