GTA 6 will not unlock everywhere at once. Rockstar Games has confirmed a rolling release, with the game going live at midnight local time on November 19 in each region. New Zealand is first, at 11:00 UTC on November 18, which is 18 hours before players on the US East Coast get in.
That gap has led to a familiar trick: switch your console or account to New Zealand and start playing hours early. It can work on both Xbox and PS5, but it is not the same process on each, and the PlayStation version comes with real downsides.
New Zealand gets GTA 6 at 11:00 UTC on November 18
Here is when the New Zealand unlock lands in other time zones, and how many hours earlier that is than each region’s own midnight release, based on the regional schedule reported by GamingBible.
| Your region | NZ unlock in your time | Your normal unlock | Hours gained |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Pacific (PT) | 3:00 AM, Nov 18 | Midnight, Nov 19 (local) | 21 |
| US Eastern (ET) | 6:00 AM, Nov 18 | Midnight, Nov 19 (local) | 18 |
| UK (GMT) | 11:00 AM, Nov 18 | Midnight, Nov 19 | 13 |
| Central Europe (CET) | 12:00 PM, Nov 18 | Midnight, Nov 19 | 12 |
| India (IST) | 4:30 PM, Nov 18 | Midnight, Nov 19 | 7.5 |
| Australia (AEDT) | 10:00 PM, Nov 18 | Midnight, Nov 19 | 2 |
The further west you are, the more you gain. For players in Australia, the trick is barely worth the effort. For anyone in the Americas, it turns launch night into launch morning.
Xbox is the easy one: change your console region
On Xbox Series X|S, the region is tied to the console’s location setting, so no VPN or new account is needed. Go to Profile & System, then Settings, System and Language & Location. Set the location to New Zealand and restart the console.
Once the game unlocks in New Zealand, it should start for you too, as long as you have already bought it and finished the pre-load. You can switch back afterwards. Bear in mind that changing region can also change what the Microsoft Store shows you until you switch it back.
PS5 needs a whole new account, and a second copy
PlayStation is far less flexible. Game unlocks follow the region of your PlayStation Network account, and you cannot change the region of an existing account. That means creating a new PSN account set to New Zealand and buying GTA 6 again from the New Zealand PlayStation Store, in New Zealand dollars.
From there you can play on the new account at the NZ unlock time. Turning on Console Sharing and Offline Play for that account on your PS5 also lets your main account launch the game. However, your progress, trophies and GTA Online character would sit on the new account, not your main one.
Is the New Zealand trick worth it?
On Xbox, probably yes, if you are in Europe or the Americas and want a head start. It costs nothing and takes a minute to undo.
On PS5, it is a much harder sell. You pay for the game twice, your save lives on a secondary account, and paying on a foreign store can be awkward without a local payment method. Rockstar has not commented on region switching, and policies can change close to launch. Even GamingBible, which detailed the method, stopped short of recommending it.
Get the download done before November 18
None of this helps if the game is still downloading. GTA 6 is a large install, so pre-load as early as your platform allows. Our guide to GTA 6 pre-load times, file size and unlock times for every region has the full list, and how much space GTA 6 takes on each PS5 model covers storage. Rockstar’s official details are on the GTA 6 website.
