GTA 6 Pre-Load Is Live on PS5 in New Zealand at About 210 GB. Here Is When It Opens in the US
- Grand Theft Auto VI has started downloading on PlayStation 5 consoles.
- That is just under the “up to 212 GB” that Rockstar Games lists for the pre-load.
- On PS5, pre-loading opens at midnight local time on November 10 in each time zone, according to Rockstar Support.
Grand Theft Auto VI has started downloading on PlayStation 5 consoles. New Zealand, one of the first countries to reach November 10, was among the first to get it, and a PS5 download screen from a livestream, shared on Reddit, showed the file at 209.913 GB.
That is just under the “up to 212 GB” that Rockstar Games lists for the pre-load. Rockstar has given one figure for both consoles and has not listed separate sizes.
A rolling start, one midnight at a time
On PS5, pre-loading opens at midnight local time on November 10 in each time zone, according to Rockstar Support. So the download reaches each region in turn, as the clock passes midnight there. In the US, that means East Coast players get it three hours before the West Coast.
GameEmpress worked out when that happens, shown in Eastern and Pacific time:
| Where | PS5 pre-load opens (ET) | Same moment (PT) |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (Auckland) | 6 a.m., Mon. Nov. 9 | 3 a.m., Mon. Nov. 9 |
| Australia (Sydney) | 8 a.m., Mon. Nov. 9 | 5 a.m., Mon. Nov. 9 |
| Japan | 10 a.m., Mon. Nov. 9 | 7 a.m., Mon. Nov. 9 |
| UK | 7 p.m., Mon. Nov. 9 | 4 p.m., Mon. Nov. 9 |
| US Eastern (New York) | Midnight, Tue. Nov. 10 | 9 p.m., Mon. Nov. 9 |
| US Central (Chicago) | 1 a.m., Tue. Nov. 10 | 10 p.m., Mon. Nov. 9 |
| US Mountain (Denver) | 2 a.m., Tue. Nov. 10 | 11 p.m., Mon. Nov. 9 |
| US Pacific (Los Angeles) | 3 a.m., Tue. Nov. 10 | Midnight, Tue. Nov. 10 |
| Hawaii (Honolulu) | 5 a.m., Tue. Nov. 10 | 2 a.m., Tue. Nov. 10 |
Xbox works differently. On Xbox Series X|S, pre-loading opens once for everyone, at 12 a.m. GMT on November 10. That is 7 p.m. Eastern and 4 p.m. Pacific on Monday, November 9, so Xbox players in the US can start hours before PS5 owners. Our earlier pre-load guide lists the Xbox start time in more cities.
What US players need to know
When we checked PlayStation’s US page on November 9, the Standard Edition cost $79.99 and the Ultimate Edition $99.99. Both were listed with a “9-Day Pre-load,” which matches the nine days between November 10 and the November 19 launch.
Pre-loading does not mean early play. The game unlocks at midnight local time on November 19 in every region, on both consoles, Rockstar Support says.
At roughly 210 GB, the download is long on a slow line. On a 100 Mbps connection running at full speed the whole time, it would take a little under five hours, and real downloads are usually slower than the line speed, especially at busy times.