Rockstar Officially Confirms GTA 6 Worldwide Release Times - and It's Not What We Thought 1

Rockstar Games has officially confirmed the regional release times of Grand Theft Auto 6, and it largely confirms our earlier reporting - with one major caveat.

That prior reporting was based on regional PlayStation Store data unsurfaced by a GTA fan site. That site suggested we'd see a 19-hour range, with New Zealand getting the game first, while those on the other side of the international date line - eg Mexico and countries in Central and South America - getting it last.

According to the official Rockstar announcement, that information is largely accurate - but one key detail differs. In short, it looks like release times are linked to specific time zones, rather than countries. Therefore, GTA 6's release time in all regions is midnight local time.

What platform will you play GTA 6 on? (2,712 votes)

  1. PS540%
  2. PS5 Pro33%
  3. Xbox Series X11%
  4. Xbox Series S3%
  5. PC (currently unannounced)13%

We previously expected that once release time arrived in, for example, the Eastern United States and Canada (EST), then the game would unlock for all mainland American and Canadian players. Instead, it looks like those further west will need to wait for their own local midnight, therefore getting the game later than anticipated. Our team member Oliver, for example, is based in Vancouver on the west coast, and will therefore get the game three hours later than he would have done if it unlocked across the Canadian mainland at the same time.

As a reminder, digital pre-loads for the game have already begun - as of midnight local time on November 10th on PlayStation and midnight GMT on Xbox - so remember to start those downloads if you want to play GTA 6 as soon as it's released. I can imagine that the PlayStation and Xbox networks may bog down significantly on release day, so getting ahead of the curve makes a lot of sense. You may need to clear some space too, as the game requires up to 212GB of storage.

Once pre-loaded, the GTA 6 entry on PlayStation 5 shows a countdown to the release date, confirming the midnight timing (embedded below).

GTA 6 countdown
Here's the current UK countdown - at the time of writing, of course.

If you want to access GTA 6 early, it is possible to "move" to the New Zealand region which gets the game first. The process is easier on Xbox, requiring just a settings change and a console restart, while on PlayStation you'd need to buy the game on a new New Zealand account, with no ability to transfer the game to your main account later.

For what it's worth, I've purchased the game on my standard UK account - if I've waited this long, I can wait a few more hours.

What are your GTA 6 launch plans? Are you taking off time from work or school to play? Or are you in no hurry? Let me know in the comments below.

[source support.rockstargames.com]