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GTA 6 unlocks at midnight local time in every region
Rockstar has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto VI unlocks at midnight local time on November 19, with a rolling launch that starts in New Zealand.
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- GTA 6 DB
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There is no single worldwide launch moment for Grand Theft Auto VI. Rockstar's support site gives one rule for every region: the game unlocks at midnight local time on November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S alike.
A launch that rolls around the world
The PlayStation Blog calls it a rolling midnight launch, country by country. It starts at 12:00 AM NZDT in New Zealand, which is 11:00 UTC on November 18, and follows midnight west. London gets there at 00:00 UTC on November 19 and New York at 05:00 UTC. Hawaii is among the last places, at 10:00 UTC.
In the United States, each time zone unlocks at its own midnight. Rockstar names no single moment for the whole country.
Our GTA 6 release time page has the moment for major cities, in local time, in UTC and on your own clock, with a countdown to yours.
Pre-load first
Pre-load opened on November 10: at midnight local time on PS5 and at midnight GMT, at the same moment worldwide, on Xbox. The download is up to 212 GB, depending on the console. Pre-loading does not unlock the game early; it only means it is ready when your clock reaches midnight.
The pre-load guide shows how to start it, how to check it finished and how the code in a boxed copy works.