The upcoming launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19, 2026, is coinciding with a substantial increase in employee leave bookings across several countries. HR software provider Personio reports a 38% rise in holiday requests in Germany, while workforce management company Remote has recorded a 32% worldwide increase in leave booked for the game’s release date compared with the equivalent Thursday in 2025.
The figures offer an unusual measure of the anticipation surrounding Rockstar Games’ next open-world title, although neither company’s findings establish that every additional day off is being taken specifically to play GTA 6.
Personio’s German data shows that holiday requests around the November 19 launch are 38% above typical levels, while planned compensatory leave for accumulated overtime has increased by 58%. The company also identified elevated demand for Thursday, November 19, and Friday, November 20, suggesting that some employees are arranging extended weekends.
By contrast, Personio reported no similarly unusual increase in leave requests for the days immediately preceding the game’s release.
Remote’s separate global analysis provides a broader breakdown of the trend. Using leave bookings from full-time employees across its platform, the company found that November 19 has attracted 32% more booked leave than the comparable Thursday in 2025. According to Remote, this represents the largest year-over-year increase for any working day examined in 2026 so far, excluding major holiday periods.
Italy recorded the strongest country-level increase, with leave bookings reaching 1.91 times the previous year’s level, equivalent to a 91% rise. India followed with a 60% increase, while Ireland recorded 57%. Spain and the United Kingdom also showed notable increases of 44% and 42%, respectively.
The trend was considerably smaller in North America. Remote recorded a 7% increase in the United States and just 1% in Canada. Germany did not appear among the ten countries with the largest increases in Remote’s dataset, despite the separate 38% figure reported by Personio.
Employee demographics also revealed differences. Remote found that leave booked by Generation Z employees was 97% higher than the previous year, with men in that age group recording a 120% increase.
Among employees whose departments could be identified, finance workers recorded a 104% increase in launch-day leave bookings, followed by marketing employees at 75%. Remote cautioned that departmental information was available for only a minority of the workers in its dataset.
The timing and duration of leave requests provide further context. Nearly one-third of bookings covering GTA 6’s release date include both Thursday and Friday, compared with approximately one-sixth during the equivalent period last year. Remote also found that the Friday immediately following launch has 17% more leave booked than its previous-year counterpart.
The company compared the November 19 figures with other major game launches dating back to 2022. GTA 6’s 32% increase exceeded the 23% recorded around Battlefield 6 and the 16% increase associated with Hollow Knight: Silksong.
However, these comparisons describe patterns in Remote’s own workforce data rather than nationwide employment statistics. Remote also acknowledged that the relationship between the game’s release and increased leave remains correlational.
Some employees have explicitly identified the game as their reason for taking time off. Remote found that approximately one in 170 launch-day leave notes referenced GTA, Grand Theft Auto, Vice City, Leonida or Rockstar. Most leave records did not establish whether gaming influenced the employee’s plans.
The game’s approaching release has also prompted a more direct response from some employers. Logitech has introduced Logi Game Day, giving approximately 7,000 employees a dedicated day off to play video games. The initiative coincides with GTA 6’s November 19 launch and includes a planned livestream.
Rockstar Games has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game follows Jason and Lucia through Vice City and the surrounding state of Leonida.
With less than a week remaining until release, the HR figures suggest that GTA 6’s arrival is coinciding with changes in how some employees schedule their time off. The precise proportion of those bookings directly motivated by the game, however, remains unknown.
