With preloads already live on all platforms, all eyes are set on Crimson Desert’s release time. At the time of writing, the game is the top best-seller on Steam (barring Counter Strike 2), so the hype is hard to undermine. The global launch is unfortunately not taking place on a weekend. It’s going to be at Thursday evening for US players, and an overnight-to-early-morning Friday release for Asia and most of Europe.
So if you’re wondering when exactly the game is going to unlock in your regional time (and when you can call in sick at work), here’s a full breakdown.
When does Crimson Desert go live on all platforms?
Crimson Desert is officially confirmed to release at 3:00 pm PDT (10 pm UTC) on March 19, 2025. This is a global release concurrent across all platforms and timezones. That means console players get access at the same time as those on Steam, and you can’t try things like the New Zealand trick to play it early.
Here is what that release time looks like for various regions:
- United States: 3 pm PDT / 4 pm MDT / 5 pm CDT / 6 pm EDT (March 19, 2026)
- South America: 7 pm BRT (March 19, 2026)
- Europe: 10 pm GMT / 10 pm UTC / 11 pm CET (March 19) / 12 am EET midnight (March 20, 2026)
- Africa: 12 am SAST midnight (March 20, 2026)
- Asia: 1 am MSK / 2 am GST / 3:30 am IST / 6 am PHT / 6 am CST (Beijing Time) / 7 am JST/KST (March 20, 2026)
- Oceania: 9 am AEDT/ 11 am NZDT (March 20, 2026)
In case your timezone is not on the list, here is a more precise countdown towards Crimson Desert’s release time:
As a reminder for those who already own the game: preload is already available at the time of writing. It’s a gargantuan game with a file size of ~121 GB (reportedly for both PC and Xbox), so you’re potentially looking at hours of downloading.
Meanwhile, those who own physical copies will need to download a mandatory day-one patch before they can start playing offline.
Also Read: Crimson Desert is twice as big as Skyrim, but is it twice as much Skyrim?
When will Crimson Desert’s review embargo lift?
Crimson Desert’s review embargo will lift exactly 24 hours before its official release time. To be precise, that’s 3 pm PDT (10 pm UTC) on March 18.
There’s a good amount of buzz around the game with hands-on creator and media previews that went out earlier this month. However, those were based on the first four hours of the game (plus a two-hour run through a more advanced save file), which is not enough to gauge a game of this size and scope.
Proper reviews coming a day before release time means you’ll have plenty of opportunity to get a more rounded-out verdict on the game. So for those extra-eager freeswords waiting to get their early impressions, this is how long remains before embargo time:
Crimson Desert is available on PC, PlayStation 5/Pro, Xbox Series S/X, and even Rog Ally X and Mac. Here’s an estimation of how well it will run on your PC, if you’re still on the fence.
Check out more on the game:
Are you stuck on today’s Wordle? Our Wordle Solver will help you find the answer.
Edited by Sambit Pal
