Leaked Best Buy affiliate email suggests GTA 6 pre-orders start May 18

Insider Gaming reported on Thursday that a leaked Best Buy affiliate email pointed to May 18 as a possible start date for Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders. The report said the email was real after the outlet said it obtained a copy independently. Best Buy has not publicly announced Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders, and Rockstar Games has not posted a pre-order date on its official game page. The leak nevertheless drew attention because it attached specific dates to a game that Rockstar says is due on November 19, 2026. ### What exactly did the leaked Best Buy email say? Insider Gaming said the email was sent to Best Buy affiliates and listed a promotional window from May 18 through May 21 for Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders. The outlet reported that the campaign referred to physical copies of the game and showed a 5% commission for affiliates. Notebookcheck and other gaming sites published similar accounts of the same material on Thursday. (insider-gaming.com) TheGamer reported that deal tracker Cheap Ass Gamer also said it had received a copy of the email. That added to the circulation of screenshots and videos on social platforms, but none of those posts amounted to a public confirmation from Best Buy or Rockstar. ### Has Best Buy actually opened Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders? (insider-gaming.com) Best Buy’s public search pages did not show a live Grand Theft Auto VI product listing as of Thursday. Searches for “Grand Theft Auto VI” and “GTA 6” on Best Buy returned other Rockstar and non-Rockstar products rather than an active pre-order page for the new title. Best Buy’s website does separately confirm that it runs a creator and affiliate program powered by Impact. (thegamer.com) Rockstar’s official Grand Theft Auto VI page also did not display a purchase button or pre-order announcement on Thursday. The page highlights the game’s setting, characters and Trailer 2, but not retailer-specific ordering details. ### Why are fans connecting May 18 to May 21? Take-Two Interactive said on April 23 that it will report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results after the market closes on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (bestbuy.com) The company said its conference call is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. That date has become a focal point because Take-Two is Rockstar’s parent company and investors typically expect updated release guidance during earnings reports. (rockstargames.com) IGN and Vice both treated the Best Buy material cautiously on Thursday, describing it as a potential leak rather than a confirmed launch of pre-orders. Their reports also noted that fans were tying the alleged retailer timing to hopes for another trailer or a broader marketing beat before the Take-Two call. (take2games.com) ### What has Rockstar confirmed so far? Rockstar Games said in a November 6, 2025 Newswire post that Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled to launch on Thursday, November 19, 2026. The company said the added time would allow it to finish the game with the level of polish players expect. Rockstar’s official site currently hosts the Grand Theft Auto VI page and Trailer 2, but it has not posted a date for pre-orders. (ign.com) The absence of an official pre-order announcement leaves the Best Buy email in the category of an unconfirmed retail leak. Insider Gaming said it verified the email itself, but the companies that would make the date official — Best Buy, Rockstar and parent company Take-Two — had not done so publicly by Thursday. (rockstargames.com) ### What should readers watch next? May 18 is the date named in the leaked affiliate material, so that is the next point at which a retailer listing could either appear or fail to appear. May 21 is the next confirmed corporate milestone, when Take-Two is due to release results and host its earnings call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Rockstar’s official Newswire and Grand Theft Auto VI page, along with Take-Two’s investor relations site, are the places where any formal update would be posted first. (insider-gaming.com)