How to Play GTA 6 Early, Before Launch, Using This Simple Trick

November 19 is a big day for GTA 6 fans, but it doesn't have to be your big day. Rockstar has gone to great lengths to avoid GTA 6 spoilers. However, what if you could play GTA 6 early before everyone else? Before the whole world? We found a small trick that can get you into Vice City and Leonida hours before your friends, and some of you can even start a full day ahead. Here is how to play GTA 6 before everyone else, before launch, using this simple trick.

GTA 6 Has Different Launch Times and Dates

Most big games unlock at the same moment for everyone. GTA 6 doesn't. Rockstar is releasing it at midnight local time in each country on November 19th (check our countdown timer to see how many days are left until it drops), so players in different time zones can download and play GTA 6 at different times. This creates an opportunity but also poses a problem.

Time zones start with the east, so New Zealand hits midnight before almost anyone else. That means New Zealand players can start downloading and playing GTA 6 hours before the rest of the world. Even the pre-orders opened on June 25th at midnight local time, so people in different regions will get access at different times. If you want to play GTA 6 early, but you are not living in New Zealand, there’s a simple trick you can try. I will show you below.

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How to Play GTA 6 Early on Xbox

To play GTA 6 early, the trick is making your console act as if it lives in New Zealand. Xbox players have it easy. This is called the New Zealand trick, and you only change one setting on your console:

Your console now thinks it's in New Zealand, so it should unlock GTA 6 when midnight hits there. You don't need a new account for this. It takes a couple of minutes, so I'd say this is the best deal in the whole trick.

How to Play GTA 6 Early on PS5

While Xbox steps are pretty easy, PS5 is a different story. You actually need a brand new account set to New Zealand, and you have to buy the game on that account. You also need a fresh email address, a few minutes to set up the account, and a way to pay on the New Zealand PlayStation Store.

Now follow these steps:

A quick warning:

How to Check if GTA Time-Zone Trick Works

To check if the New Zealand trick works, open the game's page on your account and check the release countdown. In the images below, the New Zealand account shows 145 days and 55 minutes remaining, while the US account shows 145 days and 18 hours.

That gap of about 18 hours is your head start, so if your countdown is shorter than the normal one, you're set. You can also notice that the New Zealand account listed the auto-download for November 11th, while the US one said November 12th.

Is the GTA 6 New Zealand Trick Worth It - Problem

If you're in the US or Europe, and you can not wait at all for GTA 6, then yes, I think it's worth doing. A 12-21 hour head start is big, and it helps you dodge spoilers on social media and Reddit. Lots of players are already planning this. This poses a risk where you might be bombarded with spoilers and possible endings.

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If you're in Japan or Australia, the trick is harder to justify on PS5 since the time difference is much smaller. Creating a new account for just a few extra hours might not be worth the hassle. If your main concern is avoiding spoilers, then I am sure you can wait for just a few hours to not open X or YouTube.

The launch is also single-player only, and online mode looks like it won't come before 2027. So there's no online server rush to worry about. Still, a huge launch day can strain Xbox and PlayStation servers, and I think the rolling release is meant to spread that out a bit.

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