A new report claims that 1.5million Americans are going to pull a sickie on November 19 to play Grand Theft Auto 6 on launch day.

The report by the International Business Times says that 1.5million workers skipping work for Grand Theft Auto 6 will drop the USA’s national output by 2 percent and cost companies $1billion. Tech firms, which typically have a younger employee base, are expected to feel the sharpest pinch when Grand Theft Auto 6 is released on November 19.

Market research firm Newzoo estimates GTA 6 could sell at least 37 million copies in its opening week, with gamers spending up to $4.5 billion.

Another report from Wall Street Journal claims that some workers have saved their holiday days for the launch of the game, while some companies deliberately avoided the launch date with their schedule for the year. Earlier this year Strauss Zelnick, boss of GTA 6 publishers Take Two, said he believed people would skip work to play the game: “[I] think a lot of people will be calling in sick on November 19.”

Houston Rockets’ NBA star Steven Adams has claimed that performance “league-wide” is going to “plummet” in November due to the distraction of GTA 6, with the NFL also predicted to suffer a similar dip.

Coming thirteen years after the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, the new game is predicted to be the most expensive video game ever made and, according to reports, has already sold more than 4million copies via pre-order. 

The anticipation around Grand Theft Auto 6, which Rockstar Games says runs “best” on PlayStation, has also made it tough for gamers to get their hands on PlayStation 5 Pro consoles with many being bought up and resold on eBay.