While the delay added another frustration to the long wait for Grand Theft Auto 6's launch, the latest trailer is a nice consolation prize, coming out of nowhere to show off Vice City in all its glory. The game looks visually stunning, with animations making the characters look more real than ever in-engine, and Rockstar's famed attention to detail looks more impressive than ever. Still, graphical fidelity comes at a cost that goes beyond basic performance demands, and it seems to be a sacrifice almost all developers are willing to make.

Despite only two trailers, GTA 6 has generated massive buzz, positioning it to possibly be the biggest release gaming has ever seen. A speculated $100 price tag could make it the most expensive game ever, a fate that seems increasingly likely after Nintendo and Microsoft announced $80 titles. In addition to its potential to set records in price and anticipation, GTA 6 might also end up being one of the largest games ever in of file size, especially with how games are trending.

GTA 6 Could Have One Of The Largest File Sizes Ever

Red Dead Redemption 2 Was Already Massive For Its Time

The details in the second GTA 6 trailer, along with the graphical leap from Red Dead Redemption 2 thanks to the new RAGE 9 engine, make it it safe to assume that the game will have an enormous file size. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive 150GB according to its Steam page, which is a big step up from GTA 5's 105GB on Steam. Chances are, GTA 6 will be bigger than 200GB just based on the graphical fidelity alone, especially because Rockstar is known for making its games both detailed and massive.

RAGE stands for Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, with RAGE 8 being used for Red Dead 2 and RAGE 7 used for GTA 5.

In of map size, Rockstar titles have been getting larger and larger. GTA 6 should be no different, expanding beyond its Vice City setting to take on a variety of locations across the state of Leonida. The idea that GTA 6's map could be twice the size of GTA 5's seems entirely feasible, so with the new level of visuals, a larger world to explore, and the details Rockstar is known for, GTA 6's file size could be well over double the current size of GTA 5.

Games Are Becoming Larger & Larger

Rockstar Isn't The Only One Going Bigger & Better

The file sizes of games have been getting larger and larger at an exponential rate, and Oblivion Remastered and the original provide a particularly salient point of comparison. The original Oblivion's file size on Steam (game of the year edition) is a humble 4.6GB, while the remaster is a whopping 125GB. This makes it much larger than Skyrim Special Edition's 12GB and Fallout 4's 30GB. Part of this is because Unreal Engine 5 is known to have large file sizes, although this doesn't mean GTA 6 and its RAGE 9 engine will necessarily make the title much smaller.

It's common to see massive games have file sizes above 100GB, with Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth all being well above this. Chances are, GTA 6's world will feature a larger sprawl of bespoke areas than any of these, and given recent trends and the bar that Rockstar has set itself, anything less than 200GB would be a surprise. If there is a GTA 6 Online of some kind with continual , this file size could balloon over time, possibly reaching 300GB in the future.

GTA 6 Could Force Players To Delete Half Their Library

Consoles Might Not Have The Size For Many GTA 6 Sized Games

If GTA 6 is above 200GB, anyone looking to play on an original PS5 or Xbox Series X will have to sacrifice up a huge portion of the roughly 800GB of available storage. These systems can only fit three or four games of that size, and the cheaper version of the Xbox Series S couldn't even fit two on its 364GB of usable space.

Of course, not every game is going to be over 200GB, but many are above 100GB, so most console owners might not have room for much else when GTA 6 hits shelves. Players can buy external hard drives and more storage, but that will mean putting even more money into a title that could be asking for $100.

With how long these games take to if the internet isn't great, figuring out what to uninstall could be a hard choice. Still, if GTA 6 ends up being as good as everyone hopes it will be, uninstalled titles could be a worthy sacrifice. If it ends up being over 200GB, however, making room and waiting for hell to freeze over while it s will be inconvenient. Here's hoping that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be worth this inconvenience. Knowing Rockstar, it probably will be.