Monster Hunter Wilds: What time does the game go live?
Find out what time you can play Monster Hunter Wilds, and how to play it early on Xbox
Monster Hunter Wilds is out this week on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, but it goes live at a specific time.
Sometimes a game will go live at midnight in each time zone around the world, meaning the likes of New Zealand and Australia get to play it before anyone else.
Other times, however, a game launches at exactly the same time around the world, so that everyone can get started together regardless of where they live.
Interestingly, Monster Hunter Wilds does both, depending on whether you’re playing on console or PC. Here’s our guide on when you can get started, then.
Monster Hunter Wilds: When does it go live on PC?
The PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds goes live at the same time everywhere in the world. This means you’re going to have to check to see what time that corresponds to for your specific time zone.
Here, then, is when you can play Monster Hunter Wilds in your region. For anyone living elsewhere, adjust your time zone accordingly.
- USA (Pacific Time) – Thursday, February 27 at 9pm
- USA (Eastern Time) – Friday, February 28 at 12am (the night of February 27)
- UK (GMT) – Friday, February 28 at 5am
- Europe (CET) – Friday, February 28 at 6am
- South Korea (KST) – Friday, February 28 at 2pm
- Japan (JST) – Friday, February 28 at 2pm
- Australia (AEDT) – Friday, February 28 at 4pm
- New Zealand (NZDT) – Friday, February 28 at 6pm
Monster Hunter Wilds: When does it go live on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?
The release situation for Monster Hunter Wilds is different on console.
Instead of releasing at the same time all over the world, it releases at midnight in most regions.
I say ‘most’ because the exception is the west coast of the United States, where it releases at 9pm on February 27. That’s because that’s midnight on the east, and that way different parts of the US don’t get it first.
In other words, if you live in the PST time zone in the US, the console version of Monster Hunter Wilds can be played from 9pm on February 27. Anywhere else in the world, the console version can be played on midnight on the night of February 27 (i.e. the moment it becomes Friday the 28th).
Monster Hunter Wilds New Zealand Trick: How to play early on Xbox
Because the Xbox Series X/S version of Monster Hunter Wilds releases at midnight everywhere (well, almost everywhere) in the world, that means New Zealand will be the first to get it. In fact, they’re already playing it now.
This trick doesn’t work on PS5, but if you’re playing on Xbox, follow these steps to temporarily pretend you live in New Zealand:
- Head to the settings menu
- Go to the system tab
- Go to language and location
- Change the location of your console to New Zealand
- Fully restart the Xbox
- Launch the game from your library
The game will check the console location, see that it’s set to New Zealand, and boot up, allowing you to play it right away.
Once it’s officially out in your country, though, I’d advise you repeat the above steps and change it back to your own location, just so you can get your own country’s Xbox Store again.
