Grand Theft Auto VI unlocks on Thursday, November 19, 2026, at midnight local store time on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Four days out, the game is fully pre-loadable, its first update is already on consoles, and Take-Two says development is finished. This briefing collects everything that matters this week, graded, with links to our deeper pages.
When exactly does GTA 6 unlock?
Rockstar’s rule is that the game “will release midnight local time on November 19, 2026, in all regions”. “Local” means your store region’s midnight, not your own clock. That is why the US West Coast gets in on Wednesday night. Store data compiled by fan sites gives these windows reported:
| Store region | Unlock (UTC) |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | 11:00, Nov 18 (first in the world) |
| Australia (Sydney) | 13:00, Nov 18 |
| Japan, Korea | 15:00, Nov 18 |
| India | 18:30, Nov 18 |
| Germany, France | 23:00, Nov 18 |
| UK, Ireland | 00:00, Nov 19 |
| Brazil, Argentina | 03:00, Nov 19 |
| US, Canada | 05:00, Nov 19 (midnight ET) |
The whole US store follows Eastern time: 11 PM Central, 10 PM Mountain and 9 PM Pacific on Nov 18 reported. Hawaii is unclear: some countdowns say 7 PM Nov 18, others local midnight. Check the countdown on your own console. Xbox Cloud Gaming starts at 1 AM ET, an hour after the native US unlock, per Xbox Wire. The full table for 20+ regions is on our release time by country page.
Reports that a New Zealand account gets PS5 players in early come with caveats: it reportedly needs a New Zealand payment method, and it may breach store terms rumour. We don’t recommend it.
Is pre-load open, and how big is the download?
Yes. Rockstar moved pre-load forward from Nov 12 to Nov 10, announced on Nov 3. PS5 opened at local midnight (New Zealand first), Xbox at a single worldwide moment, 00:00 GMT on Nov 10. Some older articles still say Nov 12; they are out of date. Our pre-load news story has the details.
Rockstar asks for up to 212 GB of free space. The PS5 download is about 209.8 GB reported. The Xbox store shows 225.34 GB, but that is the same package counted in decimal gigabytes; the console shows about 209.86 GB reported. Clear more than you think you need. See pre-load and file size and the storage space guide.
What is update 1.002?
Update 1.002.000 started rolling out on Nov 13: about 1.07 GB on PS5 and about 2.2 GB on Xbox reported. PS5 rolled it out in two waves about 11 hours apart. Rockstar has published no patch notes and has not called it a day-one patch. Read our update 1.002 report and the day-one patch page.
What do the editions cost, and is there a disc?
US prices are $79.99 Standard and $99.99 Ultimate. UK is £69.99 / £89.99 and the eurozone €79.99 / €99.99 reported (store listings). Buy before Nov 20 and you get the Vintage Vice City Pack; Xbox Wire puts the cutoff at 23:59:59 on Nov 19. Digital pre-orders also come with a free month of GTA+, which reportedly auto-renews reported.
The boxed Standard edition is a download code, not a disc. Boxes reached shops on Nov 12 so buyers could pre-load. There is no physical Ultimate Edition. Some buyers report codes that were already used or missing; Kotaku’s editor-in-chief could not reproduce it, and the scope is unknown reported. Full breakdowns: price and editions, no disc, and which edition to buy.
How will it run on my console?
Rockstar targets 30 fps on every console, PS5 Pro included. There is no 60 fps or performance mode at launch. PS5 Pro adds PSSR upscaling and ray-traced shadows. Xbox Series S runs it natively, and Xbox One owners can stream it through Xbox Cloud Gaming at Series S settings, but only if they buy the game; it is not on Game Pass. There is no PC or browser cloud streaming at launch. More on the PS5 Pro page and the Series S and cloud page.
When do the reviews land?
NateTheHate said on Oct 26 that review codes were out with an embargo on Wednesday, Nov 18, and Insider Gaming says it verified the date reported. A relayed claim puts the lift at 6-7 AM EST rumour. Rockstar has confirmed neither. As of today there are no reviews and no Metacritic score. Track it on reviews and embargo.
What is not in the game at launch?
- No online mode. Rockstar calls GTA 6 “a single player experience”. Talk of an online mode in 2027 is unconfirmed rumour. See the online-at-launch rumour and GTA Online status.
- No PC version. GamesBeat’s four-source report of a Q1 2027 PC release is unconfirmed reported. See PC at launch. Any “GTA 6 PC download” is fake or malware.
- No single-player microtransactions, per Rockstar North’s Rob Nelson reported.
- No third delay. On Nov 9 Take-Two said Rockstar has finished development. The 2027 delay claims are dead: another delay rumour.
How big are pre-orders?
Sony calls it the most pre-ordered game in PlayStation Store history, and Microsoft says the same for its store. Take-Two has given no unit count. Sensor Tower estimated about $1.0B and 10.31M units as of Nov 11, and CNBC reports its estimate passed 12M through Nov 13 reported. These are rolling third-party estimates, not company figures. Strauss Zelnick told CNBC that “our expectations were high and they are being vastly exceeded so far.” Our earnings story and sales page break it down.
Spoilers and leaks: what to watch out for
New Zealand players start about 18 hours before the US East Coast, so story spoilers will appear online on Nov 18. The CyberLeek footage from August and October is already out there, and a photo of the Collector’s Box map surfaced this week reported. Mute keywords if you care. Our map leak story and the graded leaks ledger describe what leaked without linking to it.
What else is happening around launch?
| Date | Event | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 17-18 | Closing submissions in the IWGB tribunal over the 2025 firings | reported |
| Nov 18 | Miami Heat play as “Vice City” vs Milwaukee | reported |
| Nov 18 | Reported review embargo | reported |
| Nov 19 | Launch; Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album (34 tracks) | confirmed |
| Nov 21 | GTA VI: The Festival at Mana Wynwood, Miami | confirmed |
| Nov 26 | Rockstar UK union recognition ballot closes | reported |
| Dec 11 | Justice’s 30-track score album | confirmed |
The union ballot covers about 1,600 staff. Rockstar’s head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe told The Register: “if they want a union, they will have a union.” Background is on the firings and union page. The retrial of 2022 leaker Arion Kurtaj was listed to open Nov 9 at Woolwich Crown Court; no outcome has been reported reported.
What Rockstar still hasn’t said
- Internal resolutions on any console.
- A GTA 6 online mode, name or date.
- A PC or Switch 2 version.
- The official review embargo time.
- Whether a printable Leonida map goes live on Nov 19, as reported reported.
For a step-by-step plan for launch night, use our day-one checklist. All news lives in the news hub.
What we’re watching
The embargo lift on Nov 18, any Rockstar patch notes before launch, a statement on the boxed-code problems, and first sales figures, which Take-Two is unlikely to give before its next earnings report. We’ll update this briefing as each one lands.