God of War Ragnarok Release Time: When Can You Start Playing the Game?

After about a four-year wait, God of War Ragnarök is almost here. We know you’re all waiting to see if the game lives up to the hype (it does), but we also know you’re waiting to see when you’ll actually be able to play the game.

At present, God of War Ragnarök is scheduled to release on November 9 at midnight in your local region. To keep things as simple as possible, everyone with a copy of God of War Ragnarök will be able to start playing the game as soon as the clock strikes midnight and the calendar turns to November 9.

If you want to make things slightly more complicated, it does appear that there are a couple of notable exceptions to that simple rule. Because some regions will technically turn the calendar to November 9 earlier than others, players in those regions will technically be able to play the game sooner than others. Specifically, that means that those in New Zealand will be able to play the game nearly a day before many other regions. As always, those looking to start playing the game as soon as possible can always change their location to New Zealand. There are other ways to play the game slightly sooner, but most will be best off using the New Zealand trick if they’re looking to jump the line.

Interestingly, it also seems that PT time zone users will actually be able to start playing the game at 9:00 PM on November 8. While the information on that slightly easier release time is largely based on the releases of previous PlayStation projects, there’s been no indication that Ragnarök will abandon that recent release time approach. As such, West Coast users should try playing the game slightly ahead of time if they’re interested in doing so.

The very good news is that you can pre-install Ragnarök regardless of which region you’re in. Of course, that only applies to those who pre-ordered the game digitally. Everyone waiting to buy a physical copy of the game or wait to buy the game digitally when it is released will also need to wait to install the title at that time.

You’ll probably want to pre-install this game if you’re able to do so, because Ragnarök is a massive new release. The PS4 version of the game clocks in at about 90 GB, while the PS5 version weighs in at a whopping 96 GB. God of War Ragnarök‘s file size makes it the kind of game you’ll want to download over a tethered connection if at all possible.

While PS4 users will, thankfully, be able to enjoy Kratos’ latest adventure, there’s sadly no word official regarding the game’s rumored PC port at this time. Most analysts suspect that PlayStation will eventually release God of War Ragnarök on PC, but you shouldn’t expect to see that port for another year (or two) if that port ever happens at all. So if you’re holding onto hope for the PC version of the game, be sure to hold tight.

We’ll have a lot more to say about God of War Ragnarök in the coming days, but for now, it feels safe to say that the game will be worth the wait for many.