A U.S. Army unit based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, is offering an unconventional incentive to soldiers weighing whether to reenlist: a four-day pass built around the release of Grand Theft Auto VI. According to a memorandum that circulated on social media, the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division is offering the time off to troops who commit to a minimum two-year reenlistment, extendable up to six years. Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, a spokesperson for the unit, confirmed that around 20 soldiers have already accepted the offer.
A launch years in the making
The incentive lands just ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI's release, now set for November 19, 2026, after being pushed back from an original 2025 target and a subsequent May 2026 window. Anticipation has been building for years: the game's first trailer has drawn close to 300 million views on YouTube, and the r/GTA6 subreddit has grown to nearly a million members. Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V, has sold roughly 215 million copies since its 2013 release. Publisher Take-Two Interactive, now valued at around $44 billion, has projected net bookings of $8 billion to $8.2 billion for fiscal 2027, up sharply from $6.72 billion, with the new release, alongside franchises like NBA 2K and Red Dead, driving much of that growth.
More than just a game launch
The Fort Stewart offer is a striking, if isolated, example of a broader pattern: employers and organizations bracing for a wave of time-off requests around the game's debut. It also lands amid data suggesting many young men are looking for exactly the kind of shared, structured social experience gaming provides — a 2025 Gallup survey found that 25% of young American men reported feeling lonely the previous day. For a franchise this anticipated, even the U.S. military appears willing to compete for attention with a four-day incentive.