GTA 6 release time by region: When you can play on November 19

“Grand Theft Auto 6” is the most anticipated game of the year, and arguably the most anticipated game of all time. The release date is November 19 and gamers around the world are counting down the seconds. In fact, releasing “GTA 6” could cost $1 billion in the United States due to the number of people planning to take time off work to play.

The official release time for “GTA 6” is midnight on this fateful November 19, and thanks to the magic of digital downloads and pre-installation, players (probably) won’t have to wait another minute to start playing. However, many of them might feel like they have to wait an extra whole day because midnight in one country is midday in another.

Time zones dictate that some regions will technically be able to play “GTA 6” up to 20 hours earlier than others. Take a look at our “GTA 6” rollout breakdown to see how your region’s release time compares to others, and find out if you’re one of the lucky few who can use a device settings trick to play the game sooner than your neighbors.

The official release of “GTA 6” is locked in at midnight local time on your console, and due to where the deadline is on our planet, New Zealand will have the first chance. Midnight in New Zealand comes around 8 p.m. before midnight in Mexico and Central America, which is the last region that can play the game. The rest of the world falls somewhere between these two extremes. After New Zealand, “GTA 6” will come to Taiwan, then India, then Central Europe. After that, players from the United Kingdom will jump into the game, followed by players from South America, the United States, and Canada.

If you play “GTA 6” in Mexico as soon as it releases, you will be almost a day behind New Zealand players. This might sting a little, but considering all the side activities Rockstar has confirmed in “GTA 6,” players who started early will still have barely scratched the surface of the game by the time players in Central America jump in. For a little extra consolation, no matter where you live, your local friends and neighbors will start the game alongside you. Gamers around the world may want to spend November 18 carefully avoiding spoilers as the “GTA 6” version makes its way around the world, but after that, everyone will be in the same boat.

Some enterprising gamers probably read the list of “GTA 6” release times and started planning an international move. You don’t need to renounce your citizenship and move all the way to New Zealand to be able to play the game as soon as possible on November 19th. If you intend to play “GTA 6” on Xbox, you have another option.

Xbox players have the option to change the region of their console. By doing this (via your profile and system settings) and setting your location to New Zealand, you will be able to play at 11am UTC, which is 19 hours earlier than some other North American players. Unfortunately, this feature is specific to Xbox.

PlayStation players could theoretically do a similar thing, but they would need a brand new PlayStation Network account set to the New Zealand region and paid for with a local PSN gift card. It’s not impossible, but the difficulty of changing PlayStation regions is a compelling (and perhaps only) reason to choose to play “GTA 6” on Xbox instead of PS5. No matter what console you’re using, you’ll be playing long before PC gamers get their hands on “GTA 6.”