Rockstar Games may already be facing quite a bit of criticism due to its decision to not include a disc with the physical release of Grand Theft Auto 6. However, it looks like the developer isn’t yet done making controversial decisions. In an FAQ about the upcoming title, the company has confirmed that the “physical” release of the PS5 version will also be region locked, preventing codes of the game purchased in one region from being playable in other regions.
Along with this, the company has also noted that the code for Grand Theft Auto 6 “works differently” depending on the region. In Japan, for instance, regional regulations mean that product codes sold in the country will expire 170 days after the issuance date, which is going to be the November 19th launch date. Here’s the full list of countries affected by the region lock.
- Brazil: Brazil
- LATAM: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
- North America: Canada, United States
- Korea: South Korea
- Japan: Japan
- Product codes in Japan will expire 170 days after the issuance date, which is the launch date (November 19, 2026) due to regional regulations.
- United Kingdom: United Kingdom
- Saudi Arabia & UAE: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
- Rest of Asia: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand
- Rest of EMEA and Asia: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine
It is worth noting that this region lock only applies to the PS5 version of the game. Xbox Series X/S codes will not be region-locked. While Rockstar Games itself hasn’t provided any details about this difference, it likely comes down to how the two platforms have been set up with regards to their account systems and digital storefronts. PlayStation also suffers from not having full support for its account system in several regions, which likely played a major role in this.
These controversial decisions, however, have seemingly had little effect on the sheer popularity of the game since pre-orders opened up last month. A glance at the PlayStation Store across a variety of regions, for instance, indicates that it has been a top seller just about everywhere. Similarly, Microsoft has said that it has seen “record” pre-orders for the game on its own platform.
An analysis by Newzoo has estimated that digital sales in the US and the “top five European markets” have already made Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive around $180 million. “Uncounted regions” reportedly bring this total up to $260 million. Its current trajectory is estimated to earn between $3.3 billion and $5.2 billion in the first week of release alone, which would roughly translate to around 51 million sales.
Former Rockstar Games producer John Ricchio believes that the studio has been quite ambitious with the upcoming title. “The fact that every single time they do a GTA, it’s ludicrously bigger than before is like something that I think about. Like, I can online imagine the size of GTA 6. Like, it must be monstrous. Or if not monstrous, it’s probably way more detailed,” he said.
