About Unlock Clock: sources and method

Method

For each game we read the release timestamp from the official PlayStation Store listing in every country store we can reach (63 for Grand Theft Auto VI) and from the Xbox Store product page in 11 markets. Each timestamp is checked against the store's own time zone; for GTA 6 all 63 are exactly midnight on November 19 local store time.

Your answer is that store instant, converted to the clock you choose with your browser's built-in time zone data. Nothing is sent to a server: your country, platform and time zone choices stay in your browser's local storage.

Your device clock is checked once against our server's clock (one request to this same site). If they differ by more than 30 seconds, the countdown uses the server's time and tells you.

Official, store listing, expected

Official (solid badge): stated by the publisher, such as the release date and the preload date.

Store listing (solid badge): a timestamp we read on the store's own page. Stores can change it.

Expected (dashed badge): our reading of a store convention that nobody has stated: the preload hour, Xbox times in markets we didn't read, Call of Duty stores we didn't read (the publisher said "midnight local time"), and the PC hour for Phantom Blade Zero.

Unknown: countries with no listing (Kuwait, Qatar and mainland China for GTA 6), and any hour a publisher hasn't announced. We don't guess these.

Re-checks

Until launch we re-read the PlayStation Store listings at most once a day (about 70 page requests, one per second) and by hand in launch week, including the Xbox pages. A changed timestamp means updated data within hours. If launch is a week or less away and our last check is more than three days old, the tool says so.

Not known: Rockstar's own unlock hours (never published), the exact preload hour, and Xbox times in markets we haven't read.

Trademarks

Not affiliated with Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, Sony Interactive Entertainment or Microsoft. Game names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the games. No logos, cover art or store artwork are used.

Sources