Two weeks. After years of waiting, GTA VI launches on Thursday, November 19, and the countdown is now short enough to plan around. Here's the checklist we'd run with 14 days left — in the order it actually matters.
Week one: the boring stuff that saves launch day
- Storage. The install runs up to 212 GB. Clear it now, while deleting games doesn't feel like a sacrifice made under pressure.
- Edition. Standard is $79.99, Ultimate is $99.99 with exclusive bonus content. Pick once, pre-order, and stop re-deciding — pre-load opens November 10 for digital buyers.
- Setup. Console updates, controller firmware, display settings, and a charged headset. Launch night is for playing, not patching.
Week two: know where you're going
Leonida is the largest map in series history — Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Ambrosia, Port Gellhorn, and Mount Kalaga National Park. Going in cold is fine, but going in with a mental map is better. Spend twenty minutes with our interactive map (2,875 landmarks, all districts labeled) and pick your first three destinations now: where you'll cruise first, where you'll test the water, and where your first photo-mode stop is.
Then skim the vehicle database — 148 confirmed vehicles across 17 classes — and shortlist your first garage. A plan for your first car is a plan for your first hour.
Launch week: free stuff and first sessions
- The giveaway is still open. Our launch giveaway gives one winner a free digital copy of GTA VI (standard edition, your choice of PS5 or Xbox). Entry is free, closes November 30, and the drawing is around December 3 — full rules are on the rules page, and the wheel is how you earn entries.
- Decide your first session shape. Story-first for a few hours, or straight into free roam? Either is right — having the answer before the title screen is what keeps launch night feeling like yours.
- Protect the night. Snacks staged, phone on silent, downloads long finished. You've waited years; the evening deserves the same planning as the purchase.
The final word
Everything confirmed about launch — dates, editions, pre-load, the music releases — is tracked in the newsroom, and the homepage countdown is ticking in real time. Fourteen days. See you in Leonida.