GTA 6 release date and unlock time by country
Last checked against Rockstar and store pages.
Short answer
Grand Theft Auto VI releases on Thursday 19 November 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
It unlocks at midnight local time, country by country. In the UAE and Oman that is 12:00 am Thursday, Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4). It is the same moment as 8:00 pm UTC on Wednesday 18 November.
In the US the PlayStation Store lists midnight Eastern, which is 9:00 pm Pacific on Wednesday.
Unlock time by country
PlayStation says the launch rolls across the world as each country reaches midnight on 19 November. It starts in New Zealand at 12:00 am NZDT. The table lists the same moment in local time, in UTC and on a Gulf clock.
| Where | Unlocks, local time | UTC | Gulf time |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 11:00 | Wed 3:00 pm |
| Sydney and Melbourne (calculated) | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 13:00 | Wed 5:00 pm |
| Japan (calculated) | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 15:00 | Wed 7:00 pm |
| South Korea | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 15:00 | Wed 7:00 pm |
| Singapore and Hong Kong | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 16:00 | Wed 8:00 pm |
| India | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 18:30 | Wed 10:30 pm |
| UAE | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 20:00 | Thu 12:00 am |
| Oman (calculated) | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 20:00 | Thu 12:00 am |
| Saudi Arabia and Turkey | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 21:00 | Thu 1:00 am |
| Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain (calculated) | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 21:00 | Thu 1:00 am |
| South Africa | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 22:00 | Thu 2:00 am |
| France, Germany and Spain | Thu 12:00 am | Wed 23:00 | Thu 3:00 am |
| UK and Ireland | Thu 12:00 am | Thu 00:00 | Thu 4:00 am |
| Brazil and Argentina | Thu 12:00 am | Thu 03:00 | Thu 7:00 am |
| US and Canada, Eastern | Thu 12:00 am | Thu 05:00 | Thu 9:00 am |
| US and Canada, Central (converted) | Wed 11:00 pm | Thu 05:00 | Thu 9:00 am |
| US and Canada, Mountain (converted) | Wed 10:00 pm | Thu 05:00 | Thu 9:00 am |
| US and Canada, Pacific (converted) | Wed 9:00 pm | Thu 05:00 | Thu 9:00 am |
| Mexico | Thu 12:00 am | Thu 06:00 | Thu 10:00 am |
- Rows without a label were read from the PlayStation Store page for that region on 14 November 2026, with our browser clock set to UTC. New Zealand is the time PlayStation states in its own blog.
- Calculated rows are midnight on 19 November in that time zone, worked out from the IANA time zone database. We did not load a store page for those places.
- The US and Canada store pages show one time for the whole country, 05:00 UTC. The Central, Mountain and Pacific rows are converted from it. See the unconfirmed list below.
- UTC uses a 24 hour clock. Local and Gulf times use am and pm. The UAE and Oman rows are highlighted.
UAE, Oman and the rest of the Gulf
The UAE PlayStation Store page shows the game releasing at 20:00 UTC on 18 November. That is 12:00 am on Thursday 19 November in the UAE.
Oman uses the same time zone as the UAE, Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4), so the clock time is the same. We worked the Oman row out from the time zone. We did not read it from an Oman store page.
Saudi Arabia is one hour behind the UAE. The Saudi store page shows 21:00 UTC, which is 1:00 am Gulf time on Thursday. Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain share the Saudi clock, and their rows are calculated.
Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Cloud Gaming
Xbox says the game runs on Xbox Cloud Gaming, on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, from 1:00 am Eastern on 19 November. That is 06:00 UTC and 10:00 am Gulf time.
For the native Xbox Series X|S game, Microsoft’s pages in every region we read give the date only: 19 November 2026. Rockstar’s support page says both consoles release at midnight local time. We could read only a search excerpt of that page, so treat the Xbox time as not fully confirmed.
Pre-load does not start the game early
Pre-loading downloads the game ahead of time. You can start playing at the unlock time for your country. PlayStation 5 pre-load opened on 10 November at midnight local time. Xbox Series X|S pre-load opened worldwide at 12 a.m. GMT the same day, which was 4:00 am Gulf time.
Size, steps and download times are in the pre-load guide.
How the date moved
- 5 December 2023: Trailer 1 says the game is coming in 2025.
- 2 May 2025: Rockstar moves the date to 26 May 2026.
- 6 November 2025: Rockstar moves it to 19 November 2026.
- 9 November 2026: Take-Two’s results release says the launch is ten days away and lists 19 November 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
We found no change to the date after 6 November 2025.
Common questions
- What time does GTA 6 unlock in Oman and the UAE?
- At midnight local time: 12:00 am on Thursday 19 November 2026, Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4). That is 8:00 pm UTC on Wednesday 18 November. The UAE time is read from the UAE PlayStation Store page. The Oman time is calculated from the same time zone.
- What is the GTA 6 release date?
- Thursday 19 November 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar announced the date on 6 November 2025. Take-Two’s results release of 9 November 2026 lists the same date.
- Does GTA 6 unlock at the same moment everywhere?
- No. PlayStation describes a rolling midnight launch by country. It starts at 12:00 am NZDT in New Zealand, which is 11:00 UTC on Wednesday 18 November. The latest time in our table is Mexico at 06:00 UTC on Thursday, 19 hours after New Zealand.
- What time does GTA 6 unlock in the US?
- The US PlayStation Store lists 12:00 am Eastern on Thursday 19 November, which is 05:00 UTC. That is 11:00 pm Central, 10:00 pm Mountain and 9:00 pm Pacific on Wednesday 18 November. Rockstar and Sony have not published a rule for countries with several time zones, so the Central, Mountain and Pacific times are converted from the store listing.
- Can I play GTA 6 early if I pre-load?
- No. Pre-load only downloads the game. You can play from the unlock time for your country.
- What time does GTA 6 start on Xbox Cloud Gaming?
- At 1:00 am Eastern on 19 November, according to Xbox Wire. That is 06:00 UTC and 10:00 am Gulf time.
Not confirmed
- Countries with several time zones. The US and Canada store pages show one time for the whole country. Neither Rockstar nor Sony has published a rule for these countries.
- Whether “country” means the store region of your account or the place you are in. Rockstar and Sony say “by country” and do not say which.
- The native Xbox Series X|S unlock time. Microsoft’s pages give the date only. Rockstar’s support page says midnight local time, and we could read only an excerpt of it.
- The Australia, Japan, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain rows. They are calculated, not read from a store page.
- Anything that changes after 14 November 2026.
Sources
Checked 14 November 2026. Each source shows its own publication date.
- Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Set to Launch November 19, 2026 Rockstar Games Newswire, 6 November 2025
- Pre-load Grand Theft Auto VI on PS5 starting today PlayStation.Blog, 10 November 2026
- Grand Theft Auto VI, United States PlayStation Store, read 14 November 2026 The same product code works in each region by changing the country prefix, for example en-gb or en-ae.
- Grand Theft Auto VI, United Arab Emirates PlayStation Store, read 14 November 2026
- Grand Theft Auto VI Comes to XBOX One and XBOX Series X|S Through XBOX Cloud Gaming on November 19 Xbox Wire, 10 November 2026
- Grand Theft Auto VI: Coming November 19, 2026 to XBOX Series X|S Xbox, read 14 November 2026
- Grand Theft Auto VI regional pre-load and release times on PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X|S Rockstar Games Customer Support, excerpt only This page would not open from our network on 14 November 2026, so we used a search-engine excerpt of it. Read it yourself before relying on it.
- Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Reports Results for Fiscal Second Quarter 2027 Take-Two Interactive, 9 November 2026
- Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Coming May 26, 2026 Rockstar Games Newswire, 2 May 2025
- Grand Theft Auto VI - Watch Trailer 1 Now Rockstar Games Newswire, 5 December 2023