The short answer
There is no early-access edition, no early-access preorder bonus and no paid early-start window. Preload only downloads the files. The game unlocks at the timestamp published by your account's store region on November 19, 2026.
How the store-region rule works
GTA 6 is a regional midnight release, not one global instant. New Zealand's store unlocks first, followed by Australia, Japan and Korea, Singapore, India, the UAE, South Africa, central Europe, the UK, Brazil, the US and Canada, and Mexico last. The exact instant depends on the country your PlayStation or Xbox account is registered in, not the country you are physically in.
The New Zealand account trick, as reported
Some players plan to use a New Zealand console region or account to reach an earlier midnight. On Xbox, changing the console's region to New Zealand has been reported to work for earlier launches; PCMag published the steps and IGN reported fans planning it. On PS5, the account region is fixed, so the workaround requires a separate New Zealand account and a local payment method. That is not an official route. Microsoft, Sony and Rockstar can apply store, payment and connectivity rules, and a mismatched account or payment method can fail. This site does not recommend changing your account region to play early.
What is actually confirmed
Rockstar's support page says the game releases at midnight local time on November 19 in all regions for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The storefront timestamps are the practical implementation: a single US/Canada instant at 05:00 UTC, a UK instant at 00:00 UTC, an Australia instant at 13:00 UTC on November 18, and so on. None of that creates an early-access edition.
If you want to start as early as possible
Use the account region you actually own, preload when your platform opens preload, and be awake for your region's unlock. On PS5, preload starts at midnight local time on November 10. On Xbox, preload starts at 12:00 a.m. GMT on November 10, which is the evening of November 9 in the Americas. Clear up to 212 GB first.