EA begs players to not uninstall their games to make room for GTA 6

The sheer size of Grand Theft Auto VI's install size has shaken the industry as a whole, with buyers having to accommodate room on their consoles to fit the behemoth.

Clocking in at 212 GB of required storage, GTA VI is certainly one of the biggest games of all time in terms of install size.

With most current-gen consoles having somewhere between 512 GB and 1 TB of free storage before expansion upgrades, it means if you're a gamer with lots of games installed, you're going to have to make some sacrifices and delete any older games you're not currently playing.

As reported by Push Square, it seems that Electronic Arts is also getting the message, as it allegedly is showing messages inside games asking players not to uninstall in anticipation of the GTA VI launch.

An image being shared on X (formerly Twitter) shows an in-game message being shown in Madden NFL 27, in which players are being urged "Don't delete!"

The message reads: "The crew is assembling for a high-stakes run. Await the signal from our insider on 11/17. Do not leak this transmission!”

What really gives away that this has something to do with Grand Theft Auto VI though is the fact that the image in the background of the message uses palm tree silhouettes and high-rise buildings in the distance, with the distinct bright purple and orange colours that the GTA VI art style also uses for a lot of its promotional screens.

Presumably, EA is dropping some kind of content update on this date two days before GTA VI launches, and wants players to keep Madden NFL 27 off the list of potential casualties should players be looking to free up some room on their devices.

Madden NFL 27 takes up around 50 GB of storage, so it's a possible contender for players to delete should they need the space.

Read More: Xbox executive hints at in-game ads as the only way to stop 'dramatic' game prices following GTA 6

This isn't the first time EA has shown discomfort around GTA VI's hype

A similar message was posted on X earlier in the week, in which the official EA Madden account posted: "Don’t let 210GB get between you and Your League."

Although we're pretty sure EA is joking here, and takes this friendly competition as a challenge to retain players' attention, we also imagine the launch of GTA VI is causing a lot of headaches for companies across the industry.

Due to how hyped up the release has been, many publishers were forced to move around their own game launches. Many were released between August and October, making it a very busy few months for AAA games, while others were delayed into 2027.

Games like Fable and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis are a few examples of having an announced 2026 release window, only for them to be delayed into 2027. As it stands, the first few months of 2027 are now looking to be as busy as September, with those games being released in the same window of time as Metro 2039, Persona 4 Revival, Until Dawn 2 and Metroid Ravenous.