YouTube and Rockstar Games are putting on a 24-hour livestream that starts at 12 a.m. ET on 19 November at youtube.com/youtube, following a pre-show hosted by RDCWorld at 11 p.m. ET on 18 November.

In a post on its official blog, YouTube said the marathon will carry live gameplay, creator podcasts, and original content, and that fans worldwide can tune in for the full 24 hours.

Viewers can reach it by clicking a custom GTAVI-themed YouTube logo, called a Yoodle, on the YouTube homepage. The Yoodle is the entry point for the broadcast on the homepage. The stream is produced in partnership with Entropico.

The broadcast sits on YouTube’s own channel rather than a Rockstar channel. YouTube said the partnership is meant to bring the community together with creator content and interactive features ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI’s launch.

Sony and Microsoft have each said Grand Theft Auto VI is the most pre-ordered title in their stores’ history. Rockstar is targeting 30 frames per second on every console at launch.

What the 24-hour stream includes

YouTube’s post names Caylus, Zhong and Kat, Jelly, Rivers, Jake Baldino, and Cinna among the creators taking part, and says more are involved. The post does not list a segment-by-segment schedule, so the running order for the day is not public.

The RDCWorld pre-show runs first, from 11 p.m. ET on 18 November. The 24-hour stream itself begins an hour later, at the top of launch day on the US East Coast.

YouTube Live is also adding five limited-edition, game-themed gifts for the launch. They include an animation called Wanted Stars that pops up on screen during streams.

Eligible viewers watching select creator live streams can claim a Grand Theft Auto VI gift and send it to the creator. YouTube said those are “on us while they last.”

The gifts are stream-side features. They appear as animations during a creator’s broadcast rather than in the game.

The marathon wraps with live on-the-ground coverage from Miami, bringing viewers alongside creators and special guests.

For viewers, the practical details are short: one channel, one 24-hour block, a homepage Yoodle, and a pre-show that starts an hour before midnight ET.

Launch date, price, and pre-load timing

Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for 19 November 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, priced at $79.99. Rockstar’s support article on platforms, editions, and versions gives the same launch date.

That article was last updated on 4 November. It sets out how digital and physical copies work in each region, including code expiry rules for Japan.

Digital pre-load on PS5 opened at midnight local time in each player’s time zone on 10 November. On Xbox Series X|S, pre-load opened globally at 12 a.m. GMT on the same date.

The physical version contains a download code instead of a disc. Rockstar said boxed copies were expected for shipping and store pickup from 12 November, and that the codes can be used to support the 10 November pre-load.

That packaging has created a side problem. Some PEGI-region boxed PS5 copies can have the download code read through the case with a flashlight. No thefts have been confirmed.

Rockstar’s support article gives 19 November 2026 as the launch date and does not state an unlock hour.

A mandatory update arrived on 13 November without patch notes

Players and outlets report that an update appeared on 13 November for people who had preloaded the game, days before it is due to unlock.

Writing for Economic Times, Gandharv Walia said version 1.002.000 arrived that day at around 1.07 GB, is mandatory, and is being rolled out in stages. Walia said Rockstar has not provided any patch notes.

The piece said the update was released on PlayStation 5 and also reported on Xbox Series X. Economic Times said the update is for players who have preloaded the game.

Economic Times last updated its report on 14 November, a day after the update appeared.

Polygon said fans woke up on Friday morning to a notification about an update for the 1.002 version of the game, put the file at one gigabyte, and said Rockstar had shared no specific patch notes.

The site also said most fans assume the download is the game’s day-one patch. Rockstar has not used that label.

At ComicBook.com, Tyler Fischer wrote that Update 1.002.000 is marked as mandatory, meaning everyone who plays the game at launch will need to download it before they can start playing. He put the size at about 1 GB.

Fischer’s piece describes the file as the first official GTA 6 update released via PS5 and Xbox Series. That is ComicBook.com’s wording. Rockstar has issued no statement describing the download.

The three reports line up on the version number, the rough file size, and the absence of patch notes from Rockstar.

Reported sizes differ slightly, from about 1 GB to 1.07 GB.

Patch notes would normally say what a pre-launch file does. Without them, the confirmed details are limited to the version number, the approximate size, and the mandatory flag.

What version 1.002.000 changes is still unknown. Rockstar has published no patch notes for the download.