GTA 6 pre-load starts 10 November: get your console ready

From Tuesday 10 November your console can pull down GTA 6 before release day, so it is ready the moment the game unlocks on 19 November. Rockstar set the date in its pre-load announcement of 3 November, and its Support site spells out what your console has to do.

Ready by Tuesday

1. Check how you ordered. Rockstar calls it a “digital pre-load”; our pre-order page has the details. For boxed copies, Rockstar says code-in-box versions “should be available from retailers beginning November 12”.
2. Make room. Rockstar’s Pre-Load FAQ says it “will require up to 212 GB of available space depending on your device”. Our table of what each console really has free shows how much room that leaves.
3. Let the console download on its own. On PS5, in Rockstar’s words: “Players must have auto-downloads enabled, and their console must be powered on or powered off to Rest Mode.” On Xbox Series X|S: “Players must have automatic updates enabled, and their console must be powered on or in Sleep mode.”
4. Know your start time. The two consoles start differently, in the table below.

On PS5, PlayStation’s own GTA VI support page adds the steps: tick the box next to GTA VI to enable auto-download, turn on Stay Connected to the Internet under Settings > System > Power Saving > Features Available in Rest Mode, and put the console into Rest Mode before the pre-load starts.

When it starts where you are

PS5 starts “at midnight local time in your respective time zone on November 10”. Xbox starts “globally at 12 a.m. GMT on November 10”, one moment for everyone, which in America is still Monday afternoon or evening.

Pre-loading is a download, not early access: the game stays locked until midnight on 19 November in your store region. Take-Two had first said digital pre-orders could pre-load from 12 November; Rockstar moved that to the 10th. Our unlock time page has the release moment for every region.