insider gaming put up a gta 6 download time guide and i'm already doing the math

So Insider Gaming has a piece up about GTA 6 download times and the headline alone made me realize I haven't thought this through at all. The whole article is basically asking how long it'll take to get the game downloaded before launch, which is exactly the kind of boring practical stuff I keep ignoring until the last minute.

We already know the install size is chunky. I saw the 210GB reports floating around and my PS5 SSD has maybe 80GB free right now. That's a problem. I don't need a calculator to know I'm clearing out old games this weekend.

The article doesn't give a one-size-fits-all answer, which is fair because everyone's internet is different. Someone on gigabit fiber will be fine. Someone on 50Mbps is looking at a full day or more. The point is you need to set aside time before Nov 19 if you want to be playing at midnight.

I'm already planning my preload. Rockstar usually opens preloads a couple days before launch. If that holds, I'll start it Wednesday night and hope my connection doesn't choke. Worst case I'm not playing until Thursday afternoon, which isn't the end of the world but it'll sting watching everyone else post screenshots.

One thing the article reminds me of is that download speed isn't the only bottleneck. Your console's write speed matters too. A 210GB install is a lot of data to unpack even after it finishes downloading. I remember GTA 5 on PS4 took forever to copy after the download bar hit 100%.

I'm not going to stress too much. I'll clear space now, set my console to download while I sleep, and hope for the best. If you're on a slower connection, do yourself a favor and don't wait until Tuesday.

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Anyway, back to clearing my capture gallery.

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Source: Insider Gaming · Curated content.