Tens of thousands of UK gamers face week-long GTA 6 pre-load downloads
A Broadband Genie analysis of more than 17,000 UK speed tests suggests around 870,000 gamers could need a full week to download GTA 6's pre-load, which runs up to 212GB ahead of launch.
Hundreds of thousands of British gamers may need a full week to download the pre-load for Grand Theft Auto 6, according to an analysis of home broadband speeds across the UK. The pre-load window opens about a week before launch and can run to as much as 212GB, a size that puts pressure on connections that are already slow.
Broadband Genie examined more than 17,000 UK speed tests and estimated that around 870,000 gamers could need roughly seven days to finish the download. The threshold the company used was 2.8Mbps. Connections at or below that speed would take about a week to complete the file, while a connection running at 9.8Mbps would still take roughly two days. For a file of this size, the gap between those two figures is the difference between a download that finishes before launch and one that is still running on the day the game opens.
The regional picture is uneven. In Newport, 35% of the tests fell below 2.8Mbps and 41% were under 9.8Mbps, making it the worst-hit area in the analysis. In Ely, Hereford and Bath, around 16 to 24% of households face two-day downloads. Torquay and Bangor fared better in relative terms, but about 9% of their residents still face a week or more of downloading. The spread suggests that the problem is not confined to rural or remote addresses, since the affected towns range widely in size and location.
The analysis also points to knock-on effects beyond the game itself. A download of this size could slow down home working and video streaming for anyone sharing the same connection, since the data would compete with other traffic across the household network. Households with several people working or watching video at the same time would feel the strain most, because a single console pulling 212GB can take up much of the available bandwidth for days.
Broadband Genie suggested several steps that could speed up the process. Players can switch their router to the 5 GHz band, which is generally less congested than the 2.4 GHz band, and disconnect devices that are not in use during the download. Changing the console's DNS settings to a public server is another option, as is enabling rest mode on the console so that downloads continue in the background. Connecting the console to the router with an Ethernet cable rather than relying on Wi-Fi is also recommended, since a wired link removes the signal-strength variable from the equation.
The company, which sells broadband plans, promotes a 1Gbps package at £27 a month as a longer-term fix for households with weak connections. That recommendation sits alongside the practical advice rather than replacing it, and the analysis does not say how many of the affected households would be able to switch providers or pay for a faster plan. For most gamers facing a long wait, the more immediate choice is whether to start the download early and let it run in the background while the rest of the household's connection is managed around it.
Source: ign.com
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