GTA 6 unlocks at midnight local time, and New Zealand reaches midnight on 19 November first. According to the New Zealand Xbox Store, that is 18 November 2026 at 11:00 GMT, which is 6:00 a.m. Eastern time, 13 hours before the UK and 18 hours before the US East Coast. That gap is where the so-called New Zealand trick comes from, and plenty of gaming sites are writing about it. Whether it actually works for GTA 6 will only be clear on 18 November, and neither Rockstar nor Sony or Microsoft has confirmed it. This is not a how-to. We sum up what outlets report about the trick and what the official store terms say.
When GTA 6 unlocks in New Zealand and elsewhere
Rockstar releases the game at midnight local time in each region. The stores list the exact times, here converted to GMT:
| Region | Local time | GMT |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 19 Nov, 0:00 NZDT | 18 Nov, 11:00 |
| Australia (east) | 19 Nov, 0:00 AEDT | 18 Nov, 13:00 |
| Japan | 19 Nov, 0:00 JST | 18 Nov, 15:00 |
| Germany | 19 Nov, 0:00 CET | 18 Nov, 23:00 |
| United Kingdom | 19 Nov, 0:00 GMT | 19 Nov, 0:00 |
| United States | 19 Nov, 0:00 ET | 19 Nov, 5:00 |
The times for New Zealand, Australia and Japan come from the Xbox Store. For Germany, the UK and the US, the Xbox Store and the PlayStation Store match. Unlock and pre-load details are in our release time guide.
What the New Zealand trick is
The idea is simple: if you could start the game as a player from New Zealand, you would be playing hours earlier. According to Windows Central and T3, on Xbox the trick relies on changing the console’s location to New Zealand. On PS5 it is not that easy, as TweakTown, T3 and Insider Gaming all point out. The region of a PSN account can’t be changed after it is created, so outlets describe creating a new New Zealand account and buying another copy of the game on it.
That second copy is not free. The New Zealand Xbox Store sells the Standard Edition for NZ$139.95, and TweakTown reports the same price in the New Zealand PlayStation Store. You would be paying for the game twice.
Does it work for GTA 6?
Nobody knows yet. Windows Central writes that, in theory, it can’t see a reason why it shouldn’t work on Xbox, as it has for earlier digital games with rolling midnight launches such as Call of Duty. It also adds that Rockstar and Take-Two may have measures in place to stop people from playing early. TweakTown notes that Rockstar has not confirmed the regional unlock times.
Rockstar, Sony and Microsoft have not commented on the trick in any available source. Whether it works can only be checked on 18 November 2026 at 11:00 GMT, when the game unlocks in New Zealand.
What Xbox’s terms say
On its support page on changing region, Microsoft recommends changing your country or region only if you are moving somewhere for a long time. It warns about the following:
- items you get in one region might not work in another, including games, apps, Game Pass and your account balance,
- the money in your Microsoft account will not move with you,
- if you changed your region within the last three months, another change may not go through.
For a pre-order in your local Xbox Store, that means a risk that something tied to your region (balance, subscriptions, add-ons) won’t behave the way you expect after a change.
What PlayStation’s terms say
Sony is stricter. According to PlayStation Support, your account region should be your correct country and match your billing information, and it can’t be changed once the account is created. The PlayStation Network Terms of Service also require accurate personal information, including where you live. Sony may suspend accounts that give false information, and a suspended account can lose access to services and even to games you paid for.
An account with a New Zealand address when you don’t live in New Zealand is therefore against the PlayStation Network terms. That is why we don’t recommend this route and don’t describe it in more detail.
What this means for you
The official route is simpler: pre-order, pre-load and the game unlocks at midnight on 19 November in your region. Pre-loading has been running since 10 November and takes up to 212 GB. Prices and the pre-order bonus are covered in our GTA 6 price guide, and everything official is in our GTA 6 overview.
If you want to avoid story spoilers before the game unlocks for you, keep in mind that players in New Zealand will already be playing from 11:00 GMT on 18 November, and in Australia from 13:00 GMT.
Join our Discord, where we will meet up for the GTA 6 launch once it unlocks in Europe: GamersTogether Discord.
FAQ
On 19 November 2026 at 0:00 New Zealand time, which is 18 November 2026 at 11:00 GMT and 6:00 a.m. ET (according to the Xbox Store).
Nobody has confirmed it. It can only be checked on 18 November 2026, and Rockstar, Sony and Microsoft have not commented.
No. According to PlayStation Support, an account region can’t be changed after the account is created and should match your country and billing information.
The PlayStation Network terms allow Sony to suspend accounts with false information. Microsoft recommends changing region only when you move and warns that your balance does not transfer and items from another region might not work.
Information verified on 13 November 2026. More articles on the series are in our GTA hub.