Everyone fully understood that the release of the new installment of Grand Theft Auto would be a massive event, but the scale of what happened turned out to be unexpected even for internet service providers.
Ahead of the release, players were allowed to pre-download the GTA VI files onto their consoles. That decision turned into a real test for the network infrastructure: providers across Europe observed a sharp surge in load on their networks.
The primary reason is the sheer size of the new title from Rockstar Games. Installation requires downloading a data package of more than 200 GB. The situation was further compounded by the fact that GTA VI became the most pre-ordered game in the entire history of the PlayStation Store. Millions of fans rushed to download it in advance so they could start playing immediately on launch day.
The scale of the strain was confirmed by the operators themselves. In Germany, on the night of November 9–10, some providers recorded a tenfold increase in traffic toward console servers compared to normal days. The United Kingdom and Sweden registered all-time record highs in internet traffic consumption. Similar issues arose in Denmark and Estonia. In certain regions, users complained of connection interruptions due to overloaded networks through which hundreds of thousands of devices were downloading data at the same time.
However, one American provider decided to leverage the situation differently. The company rolled out a special free promotion, significantly boosting internet speeds for its customers temporarily and at no additional charge. This will allow gamers to download dozens of gigabytes faster and free up network bandwidth for everyone else.