What the GTA 6 preload files show

GTA 6 preloading has started, and dataminers are already digging through it. PS5 preloads opened at midnight local time on November 10, so New Zealand and Australia went first on November 9. Within hours, fans had pulled hints of online play, a separate story download and PS5 Pro settings from the game’s PlayStation metadata. The files themselves are encrypted, so everything below comes from metadata and store data, not game content.

The finds at a glance

Find	Found by	Status
Multiplayer system hooks	PlayStation Game Size	Metadata only, no online mode announced
Story is a separate ~19 GB chunk	Tex2	Visible in PS5 PlayGo data
Region-specific content chunks	Tex2	Visible, contents unknown
Four add-ons “Shared with GTA V”	iGrandTheftAuto	Visible on PS5, purpose unknown
PS5 Pro 120Hz and upscaler entries	Fans on X	Unconfirmed by Rockstar or Sony
Missing ANZ core_restofworld001 (~704 KB)	Tex2 / VGC	Visible; contents unknown, censorship unconfirmed
PSSR 2 version 13.60 + 120Hz, no VRR	Tex2 / Wccftech	Metadata only, unconfirmed
BVH4 + BVH8 ray-tracing chunks (~12 GiB each)	Tex2 / VideoCardz	Visible; Pro split unconfirmed
Package ~223 GB / firmware 14.22	CRTkafa / VideoCardz	Manifest metadata; official free space still 212 GB

Online hooks in the launch build

PlayStation Game Size posted three PS5 “intent types” listed for GTA VI: joinSession, launchActivity and launchMultiplayerActivity. On PS5, intents let the console send you straight into a mode, for example joining a friend’s session from their profile.

What it means: the launch build is set up so the PS5 can address multiplayer sessions. What it doesn’t mean: online at launch. Rockstar still calls GTA 6 a single-player game, and it hasn’t announced an online mode, a name or a date. Many analysts expect it in 2027. Treat that as a forecast. More: GTA 6 Online at launch?

Story mode is its own download chunk

Dataminer Tex2 shared the PS5 PlayGo chunk list, which shows how the game is split for download:

• story000: 17.92 GiB (about 19 GB) of story content
• A big shared base with the world, vehicles, weapons, audio and textures. The largest single chunks are 64.51 GiB of level data and 53.42 GiB of texture databases.

Tex2 says GTA 5 doesn’t split its assets this way. In GTA 6, a future online mode could share the same base, so you wouldn’t download Vice City twice. That’s Tex2’s reading of the structure, not a Rockstar statement. Either way, you still download the full game for launch day. Rockstar’s official preload size stays at up to 212 GB. Keep 250 GB free: file size guide.

PlayGo chunk table (metadata sizes)

Tex2’s PS5 PlayGo dump splits the install into 32 chunks. Largest reported pieces (VideoCardz / Tex2):

Chunk	Reported size
World data (Americas)	64.51 GiB
Texture databases	53.42 GiB
Audio	22.15 GiB
Story (story000)	17.92 GiB
Ray tracing (BVH4)	12.18 GiB
Ray tracing (BVH8)	12.11 GiB
Movies	8.22 GiB
Navigation meshes	5.42 GiB
Animation	3.85 GiB

CRTkafa’s separate PSN package read (via VideoCardz) lists a ~223.09 GB download package and a declared application size of 320 GiB. That does not replace Rockstar’s official “up to 212 GB” free-space figure for preloading - keep ~250 GB free as before. The main game data remains encrypted.

Region-locked chunks - and a missing Australia file

The same PlayGo list has “restofworld” chunks: about 1.28 GB (core_restofworld) plus a tiny core_restofworld001 of about 704 KB. Tex2’s read is that the larger “Rest of World” bundle is content left out of some regional builds - he suggested Japan for the big chunk.

He later confirmed core_restofworld001 is missing from the Australia and New Zealand version. VGC covered that finding on November 9: at under a megabyte, whatever is gone is minor - possibly a texture, image or small asset - and may reflect a regional classification cut. Australia previously modified older GTA releases. Rockstar has not confirmed any censorship. Treat this as a datamine observation, not an official statement.

Four add-ons “Shared with Grand Theft Auto V”

A PS5 storage screen posted by iGrandTheftAuto lists Extra2, Extra3, Extra4 and Extra5, each 1.38 MB and each labelled “Shared with ‘Grand Theft Auto V’.” At that size they’re almost certainly license entitlements, not content. Tex2 says they’re also tied to GTA+, and guesses GTA 5 or GTA+ owners may get something. Rockstar hasn’t announced any reward for GTA 5 owners. Don’t buy anything because of this.

PS5 Pro: PSSR 2, 120Hz, no VRR

Fans digging the encrypted preload metadata (Wccftech citing Tex2 / GTAForums) report:

• A PSSR 2 upscaler version string of 13.60, while recent PS5 Pro titles they compared still showed 13.00
• A 120Hz / high framerate flag
• No VRR entry in the same dump
• No QSSR support spotted for base PS5 in that pass

Separately, Tex2’s PlayGo list includes matching ray-tracing acceleration chunks core_bvh4 (~12.18 GiB) and core_bvh8 (~12.11 GiB). VideoCardz notes those may map to different PS5 vs PS5 Pro structures; another dataminer (videotech) claims BVH8 is Pro-only. Rockstar and Sony have not announced any PS5 Pro modes, frame rates or ray-tracing settings. Do not treat 40fps / 60fps guesses as confirmed.

PS5 firmware 14.22?

VideoCardz reports that the current PS5 package (build 01.001.004) lists a minimum system software of 14.22, up from an earlier 13.60 requirement on an August build. This comes from PSN manifest metadata, not a Rockstar or Sony support-page announcement. Practical tip: turn on automatic system software updates before November 10 so a forced update does not block the preload.

What’s confirmed

• PS5 preload: Nov 10, midnight local time. Xbox: Nov 10, 12 a.m. GMT. Exact times: preload guide
• Launch: Thursday, November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S
• Everything else on this page is datamined and unconfirmed until Rockstar says otherwise. We’ll update this page when it does.