The GTA 6 launch-week calendar: November 12 to 19, day by day

Launch week runs from Thursday, November 12, when pre-load opens, to Thursday, November 19, when GTA 6 unlocks in the Americas, and the game starts becoming playable a day early in some regions. Below is every date that matters, in order, with each item marked confirmed (from Rockstar or Take-Two) or our guess. This is a living page. We will update it as Rockstar fills in the gaps, and the date at the top will change when we do.

If you only want the clock for your own region, our unlock times by region story has it. This one is about the whole week.

Before the week: Monday, November 9

Confirmed: Take-Two reports its second-quarter results after the US market closes, with the call at 4:30 PM Eastern. It is the last official financial update before launch. Rockstar says very little on these calls, so we are not expecting game news, but a repeat of the November 19 date would be worth noting.

Thursday, November 12: pre-load opens

Confirmed: digital pre-orders can start downloading on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Boxed copies reach shops the same day, and the box holds a download code, not a disc. Rockstar's announcement gives the date and no time. A Rockstar support page is reported to say pre-loading begins at local midnight, which would mean the first players can start in the first minutes of the 12th. We have not been able to confirm that wording ourselves.

Not announced: the install size. Figures between 200 GB and 676 GB are circulating with no reliable source. Rolo's storage maths says to clear 200 to 250 GB and do it before the 12th, not on it.

Friday, November 13 to Sunday, November 15: the pre-load weekend

Confirmed: nothing is scheduled.

Our guess: this is the quiet stretch where Rockstar either publishes the unlock schedule or does not. If a day-one update is coming, a pre-load weekend is a natural time for it to appear in your download queue. That is a guess. Rockstar has announced no patch.

Use the weekend to finish the download, confirm the game shows as ready, and check your console is not set to pause downloads in rest mode. A game that is 90 percent downloaded at midnight on the 19th is the one real way to lose the first night.

Monday, November 16 and Tuesday, November 17: embargo watch

Confirmed: no review date or embargo has been announced.

Reported, not confirmed: review copies were said to go out before the end of October, with reviews arriving before launch. If that holds, scores land somewhere in this window or earlier. We have the full reporting and what is still unverified, and a spoiler survival guide for anyone who wants to stay clear of the coverage.

Our guess: if you plan to cancel or keep a pre-order based on reviews, the 17th is a safer deadline to hold in your head than the 19th.

Wednesday, November 18: the first unlocks

Reported, not confirmed: the PlayStation Store's own availability timestamps, compiled by fans, put the first unlock in New Zealand at 11:00 UTC on the 18th. That is 6 AM Eastern, or 3 AM Pacific, on a Wednesday. The rest of the region schedule, converted to US time:

• New Zealand: 11:00 UTC on the 18th, which is 6 AM Eastern
• Central Europe: 23:00 UTC on the 18th, which is 6 PM Eastern and 3 PM Pacific
• UK, Ireland, Portugal, Iceland: 00:00 UTC on the 19th, which is 7 PM Eastern and 4 PM Pacific on the 18th
• United States and Canada: 05:00 UTC on the 19th, which is midnight Eastern and 9 PM Pacific on the 18th
• Mexico and Central America: 06:00 UTC on the 19th, which is midnight local time

Rockstar has not confirmed any of these, and Microsoft has not published an Xbox schedule. Xbox normally mirrors PlayStation's regional timing, but that is a habit, not a promise.

Practical point: players in the US West get GTA 6 at 9 PM on Wednesday, three hours before their own midnight. Some will be playing before anyone in the East has gone to bed.

Thursday, November 19: launch day

Confirmed: Grand Theft Auto VI launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The Standard Edition is $79.99 and the Ultimate Edition is $99.99. It is single-player at launch, and there is no PC version announced. Digital pre-orders include a free month of GTA+.

The pre-order bonus deadline: Rockstar's announcement says purchases made before November 20 get the Vintage Vice City Pack. Store listings are reported to read before 23:59:59 on November 19. Those two readings can differ by a day, so do not wait for the last evening. What the pack contains and how the cut-off works is on its own page.

What would change this page

Four things are still open, and any of them will move this calendar: the install size, a review embargo, an official unlock schedule, and a launch-day update. Our Four Thursdays story tracks what Rockstar might still post, and the launch guide stays current to launch day.

The launch guide, kept current to launch day