Folks are lining up for their annual seasonal vaccines. But there’s one contagion that a CVS appointment can’t immunize against.

“GTA flu” is sweeping the nation—and many workers anticipate “catching” it to call out sick once Grand Theft Auto VI releases on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles on November 19. Others put in paid time off (PTO) requests weeks, even months ahead of the release of the game that critics say is the most anticipated of the decade.

That’s according to a new survey by the entertainment company GameSquare and the polling company Pollfish, which polled 1,000 U.S. adults 18 or over who are employed full-time and play video games regularly. The survey found that 39% said they were planning to request time off in advance to play the game, 36% said they’ll call in sick, and 32% said they’d “work” from home that day. 

That’s relevant data for the workforce, given that more than 190 million Americans are gamers.

“I started a new role about four months ago, haven’t taken any PTO yet, and this felt like a good first opportunity,” says Jake, who works in tech PR and is using a pseudonym to speak freely. He’s planning on taking November 19 and 20 off to make it a four-day weekend. He says he was up-front with his manager about it, who gave him her blessing.

“She gave a mildly amused shrug and said, ‘It’s your PTO, use it how you want,’” he says.

Source link