Nintendo Switch players are on the cusp of playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with the digital unlock time now mere hours away.
One of the biggest Nintendo Switch games of the year, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, launches officially tomorrow. And of course, it being so close means Nintendo players the world over are champing at the bit to dive into Link’s sky-based adventure as early as possible, particularly if they have a digital pre-order and have already seen the game’s icon appear on their console’s dashboard. Refreshing it constantly is one way to find out when the Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel unlocks. Or, you know, you could just let us tell you the exact time.
As with almost every other first-party Nintendo Switch game release, you’ll be able to play The Legend of Zelda's latest entry as soon as the day of its release begins in your region. That said, this works out slightly differently for select territories like in North America. Luckily, we’re here to let you know when Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom unlocks depending on where you are.
When does Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom come out – territory release times
If you’re wondering when specifically Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases in your territory, take a look at the handy breakdown we’ve gathered below. As a note, the release times listed below are based on local time in each territory.
- United Kingdom – 12:01 am BST on Friday, May 12
- Australia – 12:01 am ACT on Friday, May 12
- East Coast of North America – 12:01 am EDT on Friday, May 12
- West Coast of North America – 9:01 pm PDT on Thursday, May 11
In summary, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will unlock on or around midnight local time, unless you’re based in the West Coast of North America where it goes live slightly earlier because that’s the time East Coast players tick over to midnight. Of course, if you’re someone who has pre-ordered Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as a physical cartridge, the time in which you can play is down to your courier.
Those who want to be cheeky and want to get playing earlier than their scheduled territory’s time could purchase the game via the Nintendo Switch eShop in Japan, but it might be more trouble than it’s worth since that’d require you to create a new account and load it up with local currency. You’d be able to play it from your main account, but the file would always be linked to the Japanese one it was purchased from.
