GTA VI Release May Cause $1 Billion Productivity Loss
Workers are requesting increased time off for the November 19 release of Grand Theft Auto VI, sparking debate over potential billion-dollar economic losses.
Employees are increasingly requesting time off for the November 19 release of Grand Theft Auto VI, leading to projections that the event could cost the United States economy $1 billion in lost productivity in a single day. This estimate, attributed to economist José García Montalvo of Pompeu Fabra University, has circulated widely although it is not based on a published study.
Data from BambooHR supports the trend, showing that time-off requests for the launch date are 9% to 17% higher than a typical third Thursday in November. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, previously predicted that many employees would call in sick to play the game on its release date.
Economist Victor Matheson of the College of the Holy Cross disputes the billion-dollar figure. He argues that such events do not create a net loss but instead rearrange when workers use their vacation time through the substitution effect. Matheson suggests that any short-term loss is offset in the long term when those paid time off days are no longer available for use later in the year.
