Some gamers will have the opportunity to play Grand Theft Auto 6 before anyone else thanks to the way Rockstar is releasing the game. When Grand Theft Auto 6‘s long-awaited release date finally rolls around on November 19, it will be made available at midnight local time, as opposed to releasing at the same time in every region.
What this effectively means is that if you are one of the 5 million+ people that live in New Zealand, you will get to play Grand Theft Auto 6 earlier than the rest of the world. When midnight rolls around in New Zealand on November 19, GTA 6 will officially be available to the masses there. That being said, if you are someone that lives elsewhere, there is a way that you can still enjoy the benefits of New Zealand’s GTA 6 release time without moving across the world.
How to Play GTA 6 Early
If you are an Xbox gamer, you can change your console’s region to New Zealand, and that should enable you to play GTA 6 at midnight New Zealand time, which basically gives you the ability to play the game an entire day early. When it’s 12:00am on Thursday, November 19 in New Zealand, it will be Wednesday, November 18 at 3:00am PST/5:00am CST/6:00am EST in the US. Unfortunately for PS5 gamers, the classic New Zealand trick doesn’t work, so they will have to wait longer to play the game. But the takeaway is, thanks to the way Rockstar is handling GTA 6 release times, if you have an Xbox, you can play the game before those on PS5 have a chance.
It’s unclear why Rockstar is rolling out GTA 6 like this. There isn’t a risk of the game’s servers going down as GTA 6 won’t have any online multiplayer at launch. When the game releases this November, GTA 6 will strictly be a single-player experience, and based on recent comments from Take-Two, it sounds like online won’t be added until 2027 at the earliest. That being said, there could still be so many people trying to play GTA 6 on launch day that Xbox and PlayStation servers run into issues, so perhaps the rolling release will help alleviate that pressure a little bit.
There’s good reason why there is so much hype behind GTA 6. It’s been 13 years since the last Grand Theft Auto game hit the market, with the franchise completely skipping the last generation of consoles when it comes to a brand-new release. It’s also been a staggering eight years since the last time Rockstar released a major brand-new game, with Red Dead Redemption 2 launching all the way back in 2018. Combine the long waits with the incredibly impressive trailers and the GTA 6 Extended Look on Netflix, and it’s no surprise that the game has drummed up so much excitement.
In typical GTA fashion, though, the game hasn’t been without controversy. There are some people saying that they are going to ban their significant others from playing GTA 6 due to the relationship mechanics in the game, and there are many upset about its lack of a physical release. There will be GTA 6 boxes sold on store shelves, but the only thing inside them will be a digital code, no disc. Still, it’s unlikely that these controversies will do anything to stop GTA 6 from being a massive runaway success come November 19.
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+
