GTA 6 Launch Sparks UK Sick Leave Fears as Survey Reveals Workers' Plans

A new survey suggests some British workers may take leave or change shifts for the GTA 6 launch on Thursday, 19 November 2026. Its findings have raised concerns about sick days, but do not establish plans for mass absenteeism.

Rockstar Games is preparing to release Grand Theft Auto VI for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, following earlier delays. With the return to Vice City approaching, attention has turned from the game itself to how fans might fit it around work.

The distinction between thinking about a sick day and planning one is crucial. Research commissioned by One Day Agency found that 15% of respondents might call in sick if unable to book leave. Only 2% selected calling in sick among their expected launch plans.

GTA 6 Survey Shows Leave Plans, Not Millions of Sick Days

One Day Agency's research surveyed 1,000 people through YouGov's platform. Seven per cent expected to book launch day off, while 4% anticipated taking several days of annual leave.

Another 6% expected to change or swap shifts, and 8% considered adjusting their working hours. Three per cent contemplated working from home. These options could overlap, meaning the percentages cannot simply be added together.

More revealingly, 75% selected none of the proposed changes. The survey's authors explicitly warn that the sample percentages should not be treated as proportions of all UK employees, gamers or remote workers.

That caveat undermines claims that millions of British employees are preparing to skive. The research measures respondents' expectations not approved holiday bookings or recorded sickness absence.

The conditional sick-day question tells a different story from the headline projections. Fifteen per cent said they would be likely to call in sick if leave were unavailable, but 30% said they would be unlikely. A further 51% did not expect to play GTA 6.

Working from home produced another eye-catching response. One in five respondents said they would probably or definitely play during normal working hours if working remotely. It was a hypothetical question asked of the wider sample, not evidence that 20% of home workers will neglect their jobs.

Separate YouGov research in August found that 17% of British respondents intended to buy GTA VI. Among those interested in video games, that proportion reached 39%. Enthusiasm is considerable, but not universal.

GTA 6 Leave Requests Are Already Rising in US Data

The workplace question is not entirely theoretical. On 22 October, BambooHR reported that requests for paid time off on 19 November were running nearly 13% above comparable Thursdays in previous years.

Its findings came from anonymised records covering more than 3.4 million US-based employees. A separate survey of 1,530 full-time American workers found 18% said they intended to take launch day off.

Those figures show unusual interest in the date, although they cannot predict British absences or prove that GTA 6 caused every additional request. Employees may also have ordinary reasons to book time off.

CharlieHR co-founder and chief executive Ben Gateley has urged employers to prepare through clear policies and flexible arrangements. As he put it, 'people's lives don't stop at the office door'. Planned leave, after all, is different from calling in sick unexpectedly.

Take-Two Interactive chairman and chief executive Strauss Zelnick anticipated the enthusiasm months ago. Speaking at a Las Vegas conference in April, he joked, 'I think a lot of people will be calling in sick on November 19.'

There is an earlier parallel. An IGN poll of 10,995 readers before GTA V's 2013 release found 46% said they had booked the day off, while 19% intended to call in sick. Its self-selecting audience was hardly a snapshot of the national workforce.

BambooHR also recorded a nearly 11% rise in requests for Friday, 20 November, compared with equivalent Fridays in earlier years. Even the following weekend showed higher demand, although those records cannot explain why each employee wanted time off.