Gamer’s Day Off: PTO Requests Spike for Grand Theft Auto VI Release

The long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI release is less than a month away, and fans may already be warming up their engines: the PTO request rate for November 19, 2026 (the GTA VI launch date) is running 13% higher than equivalent days in 2024 and 2025.

Based on exclusive platform data from over 3.4 million US-based employees, as well as survey results from over 1,500 salaried US workers, this data report takes a deep dive into how many people are taking off for GTA VI, and why PTO requests alone don’t tell the whole story.

Nearly 1 in 5 salaried workers (18%) say they plan to take the day off for the GTA VI launch date. The portion increases even more for younger employees: 32% of Gen Z workers and 27% of Millennial workers plan to take time off for the game’s release.

BambooHR platform data suggests that some fans may already be scheduling days off for the launch on November 19, as well as for the immediate weekend after, with a modest uptick in the PTO request rate for November 20, 21, and 22. (And with GTA VI’s fictional Leonida being reportedly three times the size as the map in Red Dead Redemption 2, who can blame fans for setting aside extra days to explore?)

While part of this increase aligns with a general rise in PTO requests in 2026 (about a 2 to 4% increase compared to the past two years), these GTA VI days are still showing a greater year-over-year increase than other dates in 2026. Compared to the third Thursday of November in past years, the PTO request rate this year is 13% higher. Meanwhile, the Friday following the GTA VI release has a PTO request rate that’s almost 11% higher than November third Fridays of past years, and the following Saturday and Sunday both have PTO requests rates that are nearly 9% higher than typical.

For most companies, the avalanche of PTO requests might not come until the morning of: 50% of people who intend to take time off for an upcoming video game release are planning to call out sick rather than schedule PTO.

This is likely an issue of convenience, given that over a third of all workers (38%) say that calling out sick is easier than planning PTO. In fact, over half (51%) of workers say they use their sick time for things other than actually being sick. Ironically, the preference for sick leave over PTO doesn’t eliminate real sick day guilt. While over half of workers use sick days when they aren’t sick, they’re still worried about using sick days when they are sick: 69% of workers have worked while sick because taking the time off didn’t feel worth it.

As 2026 comes to a close, GTA VI isn’t the only big entertainment release that workers are taking time off to enjoy. Leaders should keep an eye on the following dates for a sudden increase in PTO requests and sick days.

These days, pop culture is work culture. Nearly 2 in 5 salaried workers (39%) say they often discuss pop culture with their coworkers, and PTO data shows that time off goes up for all kinds of big culture moments, from video game releases to Taylor Swift album drops. With that in mind, it’s increasingly relevant for leaders to keep up with what their workforce keeps up with.

Demographic data is a good place to start—for instance, with video games and major film franchise releases, younger workers are significantly more likely to take the day off. 21% of Gen Z workers plan to take time off the release of Dune 3, compared to just 8% of Gen X workers.

All proprietary source data is derived from the BambooHR platform, covering the years 2024 to 2026. The data pull was conducted on October 19, 2026, and includes aggregated and anonymized PTO data from over 3.4 million US-based active employees.

All survey source data is derived from a study BambooHR conducted using an online survey prepared by Method Research and distributed by RepData among n=1,530 adults (age 18+) in the United States who are full-time employees. The sample was equally split by gender, with a spread of age groups, race groups, and geographies represented. Data was collected from October 9 to 20, 2026.

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