GTA 6 New Zealand time zone trick for early PS5 play

On November 2, Insider Gaming published a guide to playing GTA 6 early on PS5 with the "New Zealand trick". It also lays out when the game goes live in each time zone. Rockstar has set the launch for November 19, so the guide is for PS5 owners who want to start before their own local launch time.

Why New Zealand gets there first

The trick comes down to geography. In November, New Zealand is on daylight saving time, 13 hours ahead of UTC. That makes it one of the first places in the world to reach any new date. If a digital game unlocks at midnight local time in each region, New Zealand players get in many hours before players in Europe and the Americas.

Players have used versions of this trick for past releases. Usually it means making a PlayStation account registered to New Zealand and buying and playing the game on that account. Insider Gaming's headline points to the same idea for GTA 6. The publicly available summary of its guide doesn't list the steps, though, so read the full piece before you change anything on your console or account.

Everything rides on the unlock schedule

The trick only works if GTA 6 unlocks region by region, not at one moment worldwide. None of the material behind this story includes a statement from Rockstar or Sony giving the exact unlock time for each region, and that is the detail that matters. Some publishers choose a simultaneous global launch, and then a New Zealand account gives you nothing extra. Until Rockstar or the PlayStation Store confirms the schedule, treat any time zone chart as a best guess, not a promise.

The trade-offs of a second account

PlayStation purchases belong to the account that made them. If you buy GTA 6 on a New Zealand account, that copy, and the progress you build on it, sits on that account instead of your main profile. You would also pay New Zealand store prices, separate from any pre-order or store credit on your home account. If you have already pre-ordered on your main account, decide whether a head start is worth buying the game twice. Physical copies aren't affected by any of this, since disc owners depend on when retailers hand over the game.

Whichever route you pick, get your console ready before launch night. GTA 6 reportedly needs PS5 firmware 14.22 to run, and our launch cost breakdown by setup covers what each option costs. For everything else confirmed so far, see our GTA 6 overview.