A photo from a local GameStop has turned into a snapshot of what will happen in November when the two biggest games of the year if not the current console generation clash. A whiteboard tracking in-store preorders shows Grand Theft Auto VI at 82 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at 80, with the staff betting on which one finishes ahead.
The board came from X user NextGenNero, who posted the photo on November 1. "My local GameStop Zelda Ocarina of Time and GTA 6 is going toe to toe with preorders," he wrote. "The employees said they all placed bets on which one will win out in the end. Gotta love gaming man!"
This is one store's in-store preorder count and not a national sales race. Better yet, the two games are not even selling the same thing at all. The Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive remake of Ocarina of Time comes with a real cartridge and a textured foil cover on its first print run, catnip for collectors. The Grand Theft Auto VI box is a code in a box with no disc, so most of its enormous demand is digital and never touches a shelf.
Not to mention, they cater to different target audiences, which may help explain why Nintendo is so confident in going head to head against GTA 6 when others aren't.
These mismatches are exactly why the board is close. A real Zelda cartridge with limited foil packaging pulls hard on Nintendo's physical-media base, the people who still preorder at a counter. The Grand Theft Auto VI box mostly appeals to fans who want the packaging, any store extras or the in-store pickup, a smaller slice of a much bigger pie. Put them side by side at a GameStop that lives on physical preorders and a near-tie makes sense.
Nationally there is no contest on scale. Grand Theft Auto VI preorders have been enormous since June across digital and physical, with no other game close.
GTA 6 and the Ocarina of Time remake at the GameStop counter
Detail | Grand Theft Auto VI | Ocarina of Time remake |
|---|---|---|
This store's board | 82 preorders | 80 preorders |
Release date | November 19, 2026 | November 5, 2026 |
Platforms | PS5, Xbox Series X and S | Nintendo Switch 2 |
Physical copy | Code in a box, no disc | Real cartridge, foil first print |
Who it pulls | Broad audience, mostly digital | Collectors and Nintendo's physical base |
Standard price | $79.99 | $69.99 physical, $59.99 digital |
Two preorders apart at one counter, worlds apart in format and audience.
The GameStop board is a small version of a story we have tracked all year. The code-in-a-box format sparked its own controversy even as physical boxes keep selling. The Zelda matchup has been building since Saturday Night Live turned GTA 6 versus Zelda into a bit. Two weeks of shared shelf space is as close as these two games will ever get. Once both are out, they will play in different sports entirely, with Zelda tugging on Nostalgia and banking on the reputation of being a modern re-release of one of the best games of all time while GTA 6 is the sequel to the second-best-selling video game ever, advertised all across Miami.
For now, one GameStop has the best seat in the house, with two of the year's biggest games tied on a whiteboard and the staff putting money on it.
GTA 6 launches on November 19, so they have until then to settle the bet.