Elden Ring is mere days from release. Gamers all over the globe are eager to dive into the new adventure and the massive open world. With so much secrecy and lore to dive into, folks are eager to see what’s going on. This is why many are curious about when they can actually get the game. Like all global game launches, there’s a set time the game debuts. It works a little bit differently for those playing on consoles, such as PlayStation and Xbox. In every part of the world, except for the United States, it will release at midnight on February 25. The other release times outside the US are based on global time zone.
The earliest possible unlock time for the full game is 3 PM PT on Feb. 24, with other regions getting on the 25th. The New Zealand-based gamers won’t get it until 12 PM in their local area, the day of release. And though that kind of sucks for those hyped for the game, that’s just how it is. Here’s the breakdown for each timezone.
- 3 PM PT, Feb 24
- 5 PM CT, Feb 24
- 6 PM COT, Feb 24
- 6 PM ET, Feb 24
- 8 PM BRT, Feb 24
- 11 PM GM, Feb 24
- 12 AM CET, Feb 25
- 1 AM EET, Feb 25
- 3 AM GST, Feb 25
- 2 AM MSK, Feb 25
- 1 AM SAST, Feb 25
- 2 AM AST, Feb 25
- 6 AM UTC+7, Feb 25
- 7 AM UTC+8, Feb 25
- 8 AM JST, Feb 25
- 8 AM KST, Feb 25
- 10 AM AEDT, Feb 25
- 12 PM NZDT, Feb 25
But there’s one more burning question to answer, the matter of preload. With Elden Ring being a 60 GB game, there’s a lot of downloading ahead for some of us. And with slower connections in some cases, you want the maximum amount of time to download it ahead of launch. That’s what preload is for. You can begin downloading the game’s files, but won’t be able to boot the game until the formal launch.
When can you pre-load Elden Ring?
The pre-load time for Elden Ring is essentially 48 hours ahead of release in your region, depending on platform. The unlock times to download the game vary a bit by region. PC gamers get the game pretty early, at least compared to others. Steam users all get it at the same time, and can start downloading on Feb. 23.
But those of us gamers on a console have to wait the longest. But if you’re on Xbox, you’re actually kind of lucky. You can start downloading the game right now. Xbox has the earliest pre-load time of the three available consoles. The PS5 version has to wait until the full launch day on the 25th of February for the game to unlock. And with spoilers everywhere, things are pretty tense right now. So you might want to stay offline for a bit to avoid those. So if you’re on consoles, you have to wait until February 25 at midnight in your respective area, except for the United States’ CT and PT, which will be on February 24 at 11 PM and 9 PM, respectively.
