Certain regions will reportedly get GTA VI much earlier than others, with the launch beginning in New Zealand and reaching Mexico 19 hours later.
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VI's launch is shaping up to be a massive phenomenon in gaming history, but it seems that not everyone will get to play it simultaneously. While Rockstar has locked in a 19 November release date, GTAvice, a GTA fan site, has spotted different launch times across 15 regions based on PlayStation Store data.
According to the report, the digital PlayStation 5 release of GTA VI will begin in New Zealand, on the easternmost side of the globe, before progressing through 15 different release windows across the world and ending in Mexico. The entire launch will take place over a 19-hour period, spanning from 11.00 UTC on 18 November to 06.00 UTC on 19 November. In each region, the game is reportedly scheduled to launch at 12.00am local time.
Grand Theft Auto VI
Release Date: 19 November, 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox X|S Series
Developer: Rockstar Games
Price: US$80 for Standard Edition, US$100 for Ultimate Edition
All reported GTA VI release windows by region
The full list of GTA VI's PlayStation release windows by region, according to GTAvice, is as follows:
- New Zealand–18 November, 11.00 UTC
- Australia–18 November, 13.00 UTC
- Japan and South Korea–18 November, 15.00 UTC
- Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan–18 November, 16.00 UTC
- Indonesia and Thailand–18 November, 17.00 UTC
- India–18 November, 18.30 UTC
- United Arab Emirates–18 November, 20.00 UTC
- Saudi Arabia and Turkey–18 November, 21.00 UTC
- Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece + 4 regions–18 November, 22.00 UTC
- Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, France + 14 regions–18 November, 23.00 UTC
- UK, Ireland, Iceland and Portugal–19 November, 00.00 UTC
- Brazil, Argentina, Chile + 2 regions–19 November, 03.00 UTC
- Bolivia–19 November, 04.00 UTC
- USA, Canada, Colombia, Peru + 2 regions–19 November, 05.00 UTC
- Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua + 3 regions–19 November, 06.00 UTC
For those eager to skip the waiting period on that day, some have suggested playing GTA VI on Xbox, where it may be easier to change the console's region. On PlayStation, changing regions would require creating a new account and purchasing the game using local payment methods.
That said, these are not official GTA VI launch times, so there could still be changes or adjustments ahead of the game's global launch which comes in three months.
GTA VI will serve as the highly anticipated sequel to Rockstar Games’ long-running franchise, backed by a reported US$1.5 billion budget and the prominence of one of gaming’s biggest developers. The game’s gameplay trailer premiered on Netflix two weeks ago and racked up a chart-topping 31 million views, further fuelling anticipation for its single-player experience.
GTA VI is set to launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with a PC version potentially coming at a later date.
