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LaunchGuidesReported

Play GTA 6 18 Hours Early? The New Zealand Trick, and Why It Could Backfire

By DuvalWirePublished 1 min read

While most of the world is still counting down, players in New Zealand will already be driving around Vice City. GTA VI is reported to unlock there at 11:00 UTC on 18 November, 18 hours before the US East Coast. So can you just tell your console you live in Auckland? On one console, maybe. On the other, it will cost you.

On Xbox

Xbox lets you change your console's region in settings, which is how the trick is done on other games. Nobody has confirmed that switching your console to New Zealand will work for GTA VI. Microsoft warns that "items you get in one region might not work in another", and that the money in your Microsoft account does not move with you.

Microsoft also says a region change can fail if you already changed country or region within the last three months. That matters if you want to switch back afterwards.

On PS5

PS5 has no region setting to switch. According to the fan site GTASix, the only route is a separate PlayStation account registered in New Zealand, which means buying the game again there, with saves and trophies on that second account.

Our read

On Xbox it may work, but it is unconfirmed and it has side effects. On PS5 it means paying twice, so it isn't worth it. The safe plan is to preload and wait for your own midnight: here is when GTA VI unlocks where you live.

Sources

  1. GTASix — Can You Play GTA 6 Early? The New Zealand Trick, Checked (Published )
  2. GamingBible — GTA 6 confirms regional unlock times as Xbox and PS5 users plan for early hands-on (Published )
  3. Microsoft Support — Change your country or region in Microsoft Store (Observed )

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Sources and editorial notes

Written by
DuvalWire
Site publication

Each statement keeps its own source and status. Links open the original publishers.

  • Opening Reported

    While most of the world is still counting down, players in New Zealand will already be driving around Vice City. GTA VI is reported to unlock there at 11:00 UTC on 18 November, 18 hours before the US East Coast. So can you just tell your console you live in Auckland? On one console, maybe. On the other, it will cost you.

    Status: Opening · Reported

    Source details and history

    Why this status: Reported: a named outlet, store page or platform holder states this; Rockstar has not confirmed it in a first-party source reviewed for this story. Statement is the exact body paragraph (link markup removed). Prepared from the source pages read on 2026-11-12; owner decision OWNER-NEWS-20261112.

    • GamingBible — GTA 6 confirms regional unlock times as Xbox and PS5 users plan for early hands-on

      Canonical ID
      www.gamingbible.com/news/gta-6-confirms-global-regional-unlock-xbox-ps5-743687-20261105
      Accessed
      Last verified
      Reference
      GamingBible page text, read 2026-11-08

    • GTASix — Can You Play GTA 6 Early? The New Zealand Trick, Checked

      Canonical ID
      gtasix.org/en/guide/play-early
      Accessed
      Last verified
      Reference
      GTASix page text, read 2026-11-12

    Reviewed by Milos Covilo on . Event revision r1.

  • On Xbox Reported

    Xbox lets you change your console's region in settings, which is how the trick is done on other games. Nobody has confirmed that switching your console to New Zealand will work for GTA VI. Microsoft warns that "items you get in one region might not work in another", and that the money in your Microsoft account does not move with you.

    Status: On Xbox · Reported

    Source details and history

    Why this status: Reported: a named outlet, store page or platform holder states this; Rockstar has not confirmed it in a first-party source reviewed for this story. Statement is the exact body paragraph (link markup removed). Prepared from the source pages read on 2026-11-12; owner decision OWNER-NEWS-20261112.

    • GTASix — Can You Play GTA 6 Early? The New Zealand Trick, Checked

      Canonical ID
      gtasix.org/en/guide/play-early
      Accessed
      Last verified
      Reference
      GTASix page text, read 2026-11-12

    • Microsoft Support — Change your country or region in Microsoft Store

      Canonical ID
      support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/change-your-country-or-region-in-microsoft-store
      Accessed
      Last verified
      Reference
      Microsoft Support page text, read 2026-11-12

    Reviewed by Milos Covilo on . Event revision r1.

  • On Xbox Reported

    Microsoft also says a region change can fail if you already changed country or region within the last three months. That matters if you want to switch back afterwards.

    Status: On Xbox · Reported

    Source details and history

    Why this status: Reported: a named outlet, store page or platform holder states this; Rockstar has not confirmed it in a first-party source reviewed for this story. Statement is the exact body paragraph (link markup removed). Prepared from the source pages read on 2026-11-12; owner decision OWNER-NEWS-20261112.

    • Microsoft Support — Change your country or region in Microsoft Store

      Canonical ID
      support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/change-your-country-or-region-in-microsoft-store
      Accessed
      Last verified
      Reference
      Microsoft Support page text, read 2026-11-12

    Reviewed by Milos Covilo on . Event revision r1.

  • On PS5 Reported

    PS5 has no region setting to switch. According to the fan site GTASix, the only route is a separate PlayStation account registered in New Zealand, which means buying the game again there, with saves and trophies on that second account.

    Status: On PS5 · Reported

    Source details and history

    Why this status: Reported: a named outlet, store page or platform holder states this; Rockstar has not confirmed it in a first-party source reviewed for this story. Statement is the exact body paragraph (link markup removed). Prepared from the source pages read on 2026-11-12; owner decision OWNER-NEWS-20261112.

    • GTASix — Can You Play GTA 6 Early? The New Zealand Trick, Checked

      Canonical ID
      gtasix.org/en/guide/play-early
      Accessed
      Last verified
      Reference
      GTASix page text, read 2026-11-12

    Reviewed by Milos Covilo on . Event revision r1.

Event source grouping and references

3 sources grouped into this one event. Ordered by where a report came from, then by time. Order is not a confidence rating; each claim above has its own status.

Reporting

  1. Lead source

    GTASix

    Can You Play GTA 6 Early? The New Zealand Trick, Checked

    Published

    Supports: Opening, On Xbox, On PS5

    Source details
    Source ID
    gtasix.org/en/guide/play-early
    Accessed

  2. GamingBible

    GTA 6 confirms regional unlock times as Xbox and PS5 users plan for early hands-on

    Published

    Supports: Opening

    Source details
    Source ID
    www.gamingbible.com/news/gta-6-confirms-global-regional-unlock-xbox-ps5-743687-20261105
    Accessed

  3. Microsoft Support

    Change your country or region in Microsoft Store

    Observed

    Supports: On Xbox, On Xbox

    Source details
    Source ID
    support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/change-your-country-or-region-in-microsoft-store
    Accessed

Every claim names its source; links go to the original publishers. No media is hosted on this page. Attributions