Rockstar sets staggered pre-load times for GTA VI on PS5, simultaneous launch on Xbox
Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto VI will be available for pre-loading on PlayStation 5 in a time-zone-based rollout, while Xbox Series X|S users will receive a simultaneous global start on November 10.
Rockstar Games disclosed the schedule for the digital pre-load of Grand Theft Auto VI on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. The PlayStation 5 rollout will begin at midnight local time in each time zone, starting with New Zealand and moving through Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and finally North and South America. In contrast, the Xbox platform will open pre-loading globally at the same moment on November 10, 00:00 GMT, creating a 13-hour lag behind the initial Sony slot.
Key launch times for the PlayStation 5 pre-load include midnight on November 10 in New Zealand (NZDT), Australia (AEDT), Japan (JST), South Korea (KST), India (IST), United Arab Emirates (GST), Türkiye (TRT), Ukraine (EET), Germany, France and Poland (CET), the United Kingdom (GMT), Brazil (BRT), the United States (21:00 EST / 9:00 PM PST), Canada (19:00 EST) and Mexico (18:00 CST). Xbox pre-load times are set for 13:00 NZDT in New Zealand, 11:00 AEDT in Australia, 09:00 JST/KST, 05:30 IST, 04:00 GST, 03:00 TRT, 02:00 EET, 01:00 CET in several European countries, and earlier on November 9 in Brazil, the United States (19:00 EST), Canada and Mexico.
Rockstar advises players to free up more than 200 GB of storage on their consoles’ SSDs ahead of the pre-load, noting the large file size and expected server load. Early access to the base game and day-one patches is intended to ensure users can download the full package before the official launch.