Grand Theft Auto VI releases on Thursday, November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. That date has survived a year of rumours, two quarterly earnings calls and a flood of leaked footage, and with pre-loading already live it is as close to certain as a Rockstar date gets. Here is the full picture: when the game unlocks where you live, how the date got here, what launch week looks like and where PC stands.
The Short Version
- Release date: Thursday, November 19, 2026, at midnight local time on both consoles
- Platforms: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S only, no PC version announced
- Pre-load: from November 10, with a download of up to 212 GB
- Delays so far: two, from 2025 to May 26, 2026 and then to November 19, 2026
When GTA 6 Unlocks Where You Live
Rockstar has confirmed that the game releases at midnight local time on November 19 in every region, on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. There is no single worldwide unlock, so the rollout follows the clock around the planet. New Zealand goes first, at midnight on the 19th there, which is 11 a.m. UTC on November 18. Australia, Japan and the rest of Asia follow, then Europe through the late evening of the 18th, with the United Kingdom unlocking at midnight GMT.
The United States is a little different in practice. Store listings for the American PlayStation and Xbox stores show one national unlock at midnight Eastern, which works out to 11 p.m. Central, 10 p.m. Mountain and 9 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, November 18. Rockstar has not published a time-zone table of its own, so treat those US times as what the storefronts currently show rather than a Rockstar promise.
How The Date Moved
The first trailer in December 2023 ended on a single word: 2025. Take-Two narrowed that to fall 2025 the following May, and for a while nothing changed. Then on May 2, 2025 Rockstar announced the first delay, moving the game to a specific day, May 26, 2026, and apologising for the extra wait while saying the time was needed to deliver the quality people expect. Trailer 2 arrived four days later and softened the blow considerably.
The second delay came on November 6, 2025, in a short Newswire post that moved the game to Thursday, November 19, 2026. Rockstar said it was sorry for adding time to what it knew had been a long wait, and that the extra months would let the team finish the game with the level of polish players have come to expect and deserve. Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick later put the overall slip at roughly eighteen months against the original internal plan, and the company built its fiscal 2027 forecast around the November date, which is about as firm a commitment as a publisher can make to its investors.
Pre-Load, Physical Copies And Launch Week
Pre-loading opened on November 10, two days earlier than the November 12 date given when pre-orders launched in June. On PlayStation 5 it began at midnight local time, while on Xbox Series X|S it opened for everyone at once at 12 a.m. GMT, which was the evening of November 9 in the Americas. Rockstar says the game needs up to 212 GB of free space depending on the console, so clearing room before the download is worth doing.
The boxed version ships from November 12 and contains a download code rather than a disc, so physical buyers can redeem the code and pre-load too. Anyone who pre-orders or buys digitally before November 20 also receives the Vintage Vice City Pack and a month of GTA+. Pricing has not changed since June: Standard Edition at $79.99 and Ultimate Edition at $99.99, with the Ultimate upgrade sold separately for Standard owners.
The PC Question
There is no PC version of GTA 6 announced. Rockstar’s official page lists only the two consoles, Take-Two’s release schedule running to the end of March 2027 shows nothing else, and no PC system requirements exist. Zelnick has said many times that Rockstar starts on console to serve its core audience first and that virtually all of the company’s big titles reach every platform in time, but he has never attached a date to GTA 6.
An October 2026 report, citing unnamed sources, suggested Rockstar is planning a PC release in the first three months of 2027. Rockstar did not comment, and nothing official has followed. Previous Rockstar games took between seven months and nearly two years to move from console to PC, so a 2027 release would fit the pattern, but until the studio says so it remains a rumour. A broader platform breakdown covers the last-gen and Switch questions as well.
Could It Slip Again?
Every signal says no. Take-Two has reaffirmed November 19 at each earnings call this year, pre-orders have been open since June, the launch trailer is out, pre-loading has started and the physical edition is on its way to shops. Rockstar’s own statement during the August leaks repeated the date rather than hedging it. A delay this late would mean pulling a product that is already on people’s hard drives, and nothing in Rockstar’s history suggests it would do that. The next official checkpoint is Take-Two’s quarterly report on November 9, ten days before launch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the GTA 6 release date?
Thursday, November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar set the date on November 6, 2025 and has not changed it since.
What time does GTA 6 unlock?
Midnight local time on November 19 in every region, on both consoles. New Zealand is first, at 11 a.m. UTC on November 18, and US store listings point to a single national unlock at midnight Eastern, or 9 p.m. Pacific on the 18th.
Is GTA 6 coming to PC?
Not at launch, and no PC version or date has been announced. An unconfirmed report points to early 2027, but Rockstar has said nothing official.
When does GTA 6 pre-load start?
It started on November 10, 2026: at midnight local time on PlayStation 5 and at 12 a.m. GMT worldwide on Xbox Series X|S. The download is up to 212 GB.
Has GTA 6 been delayed?
Twice. It moved from a 2025 window to May 26, 2026, and then to November 19, 2026. Both times Rockstar said it needed the extra months to finish the game properly.
Does the physical version come on a disc?
No. The boxed edition, available from November 12, contains a download code for the full game and the Vintage Vice City Pack. There is no physical Ultimate Edition.
