Ireland’s internet traffic hits record high as thousands rush to download GTA 6

It is expected to become the highest grossing game ever.

Fans of the Rockstar Games series have been waiting 13 years for the new addition, which cost more than €1 billion to develop and faced multiple delays.

Recent trailers for the game even crashed Netflix’s servers due to demand.

Ireland’s Internet Neutral Exchange (Inex), who connects of the two thirds of the country's internet network companies, saw daily traffic figures reach 12.53 petabytes compared to a six-month daily average of 9.53 petabytes.

A source at Inex commented on the spike, saying: “It’s understood that this was Grand Theft Auto VI preloading.

“We saw records both for overall peak traffic and over a 24-hour period.”

The long-awaited 212GB game is expected to become the highest grossing game in history and earn almost €1 billion in its first 24 hours.

Over its 13 years of release, GTA V has earned an estimated $10 billion, a whopping three times more as the highest grossing film, Avengers Endgame.

GTA 6 will be available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox X or Xbox S consoles, costing between €80 and €100.

The game was developed over six years and cost more than €1 billion to develop, with its launch facing multiple delays.

It is limited to 30 frames per second compared to 60 frames per second for many games on the latest PlayStation and Xbox consoles, something a few gaming outlets have complained about.

The game will be officially released next Thursday, November 19.