If the leaks are right, the first GTA 6 review scores will show up on Wednesday, November 18. That's one day before the game unlocks, and about three weeks after review copies started going out.
The claim comes from NateTheHate, the insider who has a decent track record on Rockstar and Take-Two dates. He says review codes reached outlets at the end of October with a November 18 embargo. Insider Gaming says it heard the same thing from its own sources.
Rockstar hasn't said a word about it, which is normal. Publishers almost never announce review embargoes. You usually find out when the reviews appear.
Why the timing matters
A November 18 embargo is a confident move. Studios that are nervous about their game tend to push reviews to launch day, or even later, so buyers can't read scores before the game is already downloaded. Letting reviews out a day early suggests Rockstar and Take-Two aren't worried about what critics will say.
It also lines up neatly with everything else happening that week. Preloads open on November 12, so most people who pre-ordered will already have the game sitting on their console when the scores drop. A strong review day becomes free marketing for the people still on the fence, and there's still time for them to buy and download before midnight.
Three weeks is not a lot of time for a game this size
Here's the part worth keeping in mind when you read the first reviews. Three weeks sounds generous, but GTA 6 is a huge game. Red Dead Redemption 2 took most reviewers 50 to 60 hours just to finish the story, and plenty of them said afterwards that they had barely touched the side content.
Expect the day-one reviews to focus on the campaign, Jason and Lucia's story, the world and how it runs on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Deeper verdicts on the long-tail content, the economy and the activities that take dozens of hours to reach will come later.
Some outlets may wait until November 19
One report says certain outlets might hold their full verdicts until launch day. That usually happens when a publisher limits what can be shown before release, such as late-game footage or specific story beats. It can also just be a choice. Some sites prefer to publish after the servers go live so they can comment on day-one patches.
We haven't seen the embargo terms, so we can't say who is under which rules. If you see a big outlet with no review on the 18th, that isn't automatically a bad sign.
What we'll do
We'll keep this labelled as a rumor until the first review is live. When scores start appearing we'll round them up here, with the Metacritic and OpenCritic averages, and flip the label to confirmed.
In the meantime, if you're planning your launch night, our unlock time guide has the exact time GTA 6 opens in your region, and the preload guide covers what to do before November 12.
