On the night that turned from Monday into Tuesday, millions of people across the world reached for the same enormous file at nearly the same moment, and the networks that carry their lives felt the pressure. The file was a video game, Grand Theft Auto VI, whose 212 gigabytes arrived early for those who wanted to be ready before its release on November 19. It is a small and modern echo of an old human pattern: a crowd gathers for a long-awaited thing, and the shared infrastructure that connects them strains under the eagerness. Here the strain is met calmly, with providers who had prepared for
GTA VI Pre-Downloads Drive Record Internet Traffic as Providers Across Europe and US Brace for Launch
Many times higher than usual, from a single game download
Mark
Why is a video game download making news for internet providers?
Mimi
Because of scale. The game is 212GB, and millions of people started pulling it down at the same time after midnight on Nov 10. Virgin Media O2 had its highest-ever daily data volume.
Mark
How big was the jump?
Mimi
In its first hour, Virgin Media O2 saw broadband traffic up 51% on the week before. In Germany, 1&1 said the increase was at times about a factor of 10 compared with ordinary nights.
Luke
Careful with that one. The factor of 10 is a spokesman's description of 1&1's own network at times, not a measured figure we can check. And Telekom only said "many times higher" with no number.
Mark
What about Comcast in the US?
Luke
That's a statement about expectation. Comcast said it expected record weekly traffic for its Xfinity network. The report doesn't say it has happened.
Mimi
Fair. What's confirmed is the Virgin Media O2 record and the unusual traffic reported in Germany.
Mark
Did anything break?
Luke
Nothing in the reporting says so. No outages are mentioned. Vodafone said its network is prepared.
Mimi
And Vodafone says the pre-load is spreading over several days, which softens the peaks, though the base load is still elevated.
Mark
So what should we watch?
Mimi
Nov 19, release day. Providers expect higher volumes again.
Luke
And whether that matches the expectations. Nobody has published numbers for it yet.
O Pulso
- A record-breaking rush of downloads hit broadband networks in the UK, Germany and the US just after midnight on November 10.
- Virgin Media O2 logged its highest-ever daily data volume, and some German providers saw traffic many times above a normal night.
- Providers are easing the crush by spreading the pre-load across several days, though baseline traffic stays elevated.
- Download times stretch from about 28 minutes on gigabit lines to more than 47 hours on slow 10 Mbit/s connections.
- Networks are bracing for another surge when the game launches on November 19.
On the night that turned from Monday into Tuesday, millions of people across the world reached for the same enormous file at nearly the same moment, and the networks that carry their lives felt the pressure. The file was a video game, Grand Theft Auto VI, whose 212 gigabytes arrived early for those who wanted to be ready before its release on November 19. It is a small and modern echo of an old human pattern: a crowd gathers for a long-awaited thing, and the shared infrastructure that connects them strains under the eagerness. Here the strain is met calmly, with providers who had prepared for exactly this kind of gathering.
The surge began just after midnight, as Monday turned into Tuesday, November 10. Millions of people started downloading the same file at the same moment, and broadband companies on both sides of the Atlantic watched their traffic charts climb. The file was Grand Theft Auto VI, due for release on November 19. Because it weighs 212GB, Sony and Microsoft opened pre-loading nine days early, and the rush arrived as soon as it did.
In the UK, Virgin Media O2 said November 10 was its busiest day ever for data. In Germany, 1&1 and Telekom reported traffic many times above ordinary nights, with much of it coming from the PlayStation and Xbox online services. In the United States, Comcast had prepared its Xfinity network for the highest weekly volume in its history.
The demand has a clear source. GTA VI is the most pre-ordered game ever on the PlayStation Store, and its billboards have appeared in cities around the world. Its predecessor, released in 2013, has sold more than 200 million copies.
The file's size explains the strain. A gigabit connection can finish in about 28 minutes, while a slow 10 Mbit/s line may need more than two days. Most players will not need the full pre-load window, but the wait can still stretch for a day or more.
There is some relief. Vodafone said the pre-load is spreading across several days, easing the sharpest peaks, though the base load remains high. Its network development head, Marc Hölzer, noted that when many people pull more than 200 gigabytes at once, the traffic adds up, but the networks are ready for it. Providers now expect another jump when the game launches on November 19.
The surge began just after midnight. As Monday, Nov 9, slid into Tuesday, Nov 10, millions of people started downloading the same file at the same moment, and broadband companies on both sides of the Atlantic watched their traffic charts climb.
The file was Grand Theft Auto VI, which is due for release on Nov 19. Because the game is 212GB, Sony and Microsoft opened pre-loading nine days early, and the rush started as soon as it did. Many providers reported spikes by Tuesday morning.
In the UK, Virgin Media O2 said Nov 10 was its highest-ever day for data volume. In the first hour of pre-loading, between midnight and 1 am, its broadband traffic was 51% higher than in the same hour the previous week.
Germany showed the same pattern. The telecommunications company 1&1 reported an unusual increase on Monday night, with significant rises in traffic from the online services of the PlayStation and Xbox consoles. A spokesman said that compared with ordinary nights, the increase was at times about a factor of 10. Telekom made similar comments, saying it saw very high traffic on the first night of the pre-load, many times above the usual volume.
In the United States, Comcast said it had expected the pre-load and launch window to produce the highest weekly traffic volume in the history of its Xfinity network. Senior vice president Kohposh Kuda said the provider had built its infrastructure specifically for millions of people downloading at once.
The demand has a clear source. According to Sony, GTA VI is the most pre-ordered game of all time on the PlayStation Store, and large billboards for it have appeared in major cities around the world. The series, from Rockstar Games, first came out in 1997. Its predecessor, released in 2013, has sold more than 200 million copies. GTA VI is likely to become the most expensive entertainment product in history, with an estimated budget well over US$1bil (RM4.07bil).
The size of the file explains the strain. Telekom calculated that a gigabit connection can finish the download in about 28 minutes. A standard 50 megabit-per-second line needs roughly nine and a half hours, and a slow 10 Mbit/s connection more than 47 hours. Gamers will not need the full 10 days allowed for pre-loading, but depending on the connection, the download can take more than a day.
There is some relief. Vodafone said the pre-load appears to be spreading across several days, which eases the biggest peaks, though the base load remains elevated. Marc Hölzer, its head of network development, said that when many people download more than 200 gigabytes at once the traffic adds up, but the network is prepared for such peaks.
Providers now expect another jump in data volumes on the official release day, Nov 19.
Citações Notáveis
When many people download more than 200 gigabytes at the same time, a lot of data traffic adds up. Our network is prepared for such peaks.— Marc Hölzer, head of network development, Vodafone
Compared with ordinary nights, the increase was at times about a factor of 10.— 1&1 spokesman
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