As the countdown is on for the arrival of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19, the most anticipated video game of all time, some particularly impatient players have already found a workaround to roam the streets of Vice City several hours early.
Since Grand Theft Auto VI will not benefit from a physical release, you will have to go through its digital distribution in order to start the game. Everyone should therefore be able to unlock the game on November 19 at midnight. But midnight in which country? Because of the time zone divisions across our globe, that famous midnight will first strike in New Zealand, up to 20 hours ahead of other regions of the world.
GTA VI: a launch spread over 15 time zones
Savvy players therefore quickly deduced that it would be enough to change the regional settings on their machine to virtually locate themselves in New Zealand and start playing well before the fateful hour. And they were right. According to information spotted by the site GTA Vice, the digital release of Rockstar Games' title will indeed be staggered across 15 different times.
The kickoff will begin on November 18 at 1 p.m. (French time), which corresponds precisely to midnight on November 19 in New Zealand. After that, the game will unlock hour by hour in Australia, Japan, India, and then in the rest of Europe, before finishing its run on the American continent.
Xbox Series advantage facing a more restrictive PlayStation 5
However, not all players will be in the same boat when trying this time-travel journey. For owners of Xbox Series X/S, the process is child’s play. All it takes is changing the geographic region in the console settings to fool the system at no cost or complication.
The maneuver is much more complex on PlayStation 5. Since Sony’s ecosystem locks the region to the user account, it will be necessary to create a dedicated New Zealand PlayStation Network account and buy the game on the local PlayStation Store using gift cards denominated in local currency. An extra constraint for Sony players, but enthusiasts still have a few weeks left to put this plan into action.
