GTA 6 is out on 19 November, but it may not start at the same moment for everyone. PlayStation Store listings reportedly show the game unlocking at midnight local time in each region, which would let New Zealand players in first and North America about 18 hours later.
New Zealand’s midnight on 19 November is 16:00 on 18 November in Pakistan, for anyone counting the hours. Rockstar has not published a regional schedule.
The timings come from a collection of PlayStation Store pages in 63 countries and regions put together by GTA Vice, as relayed by Vice. From there the unlocks are spread over 15 windows in roughly 19 hours, with Mexico and Central America last. Vice stresses that Rockstar has not confirmed these times and that they can change.
In the United States, the PlayStation Store lists 12 AM Eastern on 19 November, according to Vice, so players on the West Coast could start at 9 PM Pacific on 18 November. The earliest unlock, in New Zealand, is 3 AM Pacific that same day. The listings are the PS5 versions; whether Xbox follows the same plan has not been shown.
The region that counts is the one attached to your PlayStation Network account, and it need not match where you are sitting. That is what makes the next part possible.
The New Zealand account trick
Xbox owners are reportedly planning to switch their console’s location to New Zealand, which would only work if the Xbox version keeps the same schedule.
On PS5 it is harder. PlayStation does not let you change the region of an existing account, so you would need a second, New Zealand account and a copy bought in that region’s store, which may require New Zealand store credit or a local payment method. Notebookcheck describes the steps: turn on console sharing and offline play so the game can be reached from your usual profile. It adds that PlayStation Network prohibits accounts tied to countries where the player does not live, though the rule is not commonly enforced.
Vice also notes that the game costs more in New Zealand dollars, so the early start may not be worth the extra spend for most people.
Pre-loading from 12 November
Rockstar’s GTA VI site lists 19 November as the release date for consoles. Digital pre-orders can be pre-loaded from 12 November, so the large download, expected to be around 210 GB on PS5 according to Notebookcheck, can be finished before the unlock.
Whether the staggered unlock holds will only be clear closer to launch; the PlayStation Store listings are the place where any change would first show up.
