Watch out for New Zealand-based spoilers
The PlayStation Store may offer official new details on the release timings for Grand Theft Auto 6 across multiple regions, revealing that Rockstar Games may have a staggered launch for its upcoming sequel. If accurate, Grand Theft Auto fans in New Zealand might have a multi-hour head start to explore the world of GTA 6.
Polygon has reached out to Rockstar for confirmation on the matter, but as of now, it seems that Grand Theft Auto 6 won’t roll out simultaneously in all territories. The game will reportedly become available at 12 a.m. local time in each region, resulting in players across the world accessing it at different times, based on PlayStation Store data.
Who will be first to play GTA 6?
Gamers in New Zealand will be the first to playGTA 6, and those in Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica will be the last. The time difference between these regions is 19 hours — plenty of time to exploreGTA 6as others eagerly await its launch.GTAVice has compiled all PlayStation Store release time schedulesin order to make it easier for fans to know when it’ll become available in their region.
A staggered release may look bad at first glance, but it means that some fans can cheat the system and technically play it early. Xbox players can easily change their console’s region to New Zealand and access the game as soon as 12 a.m. NZDT hits. As for the PlayStation release, accounts are region-locked, making this process much more complicated. It’s unclear at this stage if Rockstar can convince Sony to change how it handles region-based rollouts.
To play GTA 6 early on PlayStation, users will have to make a new PlayStation account and set its region to New Zealand. On top of this, they’d have to play the game on this account rather than their main account because Grand Theft Auto 6 is region-locked on PlayStation.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X on Nov. 19.