The short answer. 02:00 UTC on Thursday 29 October 2026. In North America that is the evening of Wednesday 28 October - 7:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM Eastern. In the UK it is 2:00 AM on Thursday; Central Europe, 3:00 AM.
Full unlock table
The PlayStation Store listing shows the same timestamp across every region checked, and both editions share it. Paying for the Deluxe Edition does not get you in earlier.
| Region | Local time | Day |
|---|---|---|
| US Pacific | 7:00 PM | Wed 28 Oct |
| US Mountain | 8:00 PM | Wed 28 Oct |
| US Central | 9:00 PM | Wed 28 Oct |
| US Eastern | 10:00 PM | Wed 28 Oct |
| Brazil (Brasilia) | 11:00 PM | Wed 28 Oct |
| UK (GMT) | 2:00 AM | Thu 29 Oct |
| Central Europe (CET) | 3:00 AM | Thu 29 Oct |
| India (IST) | 7:30 AM | Thu 29 Oct |
| Japan / Korea | 11:00 AM | Thu 29 Oct |
| Australia East (AEDT) | 1:00 PM | Thu 29 Oct |
| New Zealand (NZDT) | 3:00 PM | Thu 29 Oct |
UK and European times assume the clocks have already gone back on 25 October. US clocks do not change until 1 November. Confirmed PlayStation Store listing, checked across eight regions on 12 October 2026.
Why the date looks like it changes
You will see three different dates quoted, and all three are technically right.
- S-GAME says 29 October. That is the official release date worldwide.
- Steam shows 28 October to visitors in the Americas, because that is the local calendar date at the moment of unlock. The store page lists no hour at all.
- PlayStation's blog post carries an asterisk - "29 October, 28 October in the US and select regions" - for the same reason.
The practical consequence: if you are in the Americas, your launch night is Wednesday, not Thursday. Plan the evening, not the morning.
What is not confirmed. S-GAME has not published a launch-time schedule of its own. The times above come from the store listing, not from a studio announcement. The PC unlock time is assumed to match, but no separate Steam or Epic timestamp has been published.
Preload and file size
The PS5 build is listed at roughly 134.9 GB by the PlayStation Game Size tracker, with preloading reported to open on 27 October. Preview Neither figure has been confirmed by S-GAME, and no preload hour has been given.
The PC install size on Steam and Epic is not published. An SSD is a hard requirement on PC regardless, so a ~135 GB install is the number to plan around if you are clearing space on either platform.
If it will not launch
At a global unlock, the most common failures are timezone confusion and an install that never finished. Work through these in order.
- Check the clock, not the date. If your store still shows a countdown, you are before 02:00 UTC, not after.
- Confirm the platform. PC and PS5 unlock from the same moment, but the PC storefront may not display an hour at all, which reads like a delay.
- Finish the download. At roughly 135 GB this is an hours-long job on an average connection. Preloading on 27 October removes the wait entirely.
- Restart the store client. A client holding the pre-load state will often keep showing a countdown after unlock.
The delay, briefly
The game was originally scheduled for 9 September 2026. In June, S-GAME moved it 50 days to 29 October, citing a final pass on character models and on how the game looks without ray tracing. Pre-orders opened on 11 August, and the studio confirmed development was complete at that point.
Questions people actually ask
What time does Phantom Blade Zero come out?
02:00 UTC on 29 October 2026. That is 7:00 PM PT and 10:00 PM ET on 28 October in North America, and 2:00 AM GMT on 29 October in the UK.
Why does Steam say October 28?
Steam displays the local calendar date of the same global unlock moment. In the Americas, that moment falls on the evening of 28 October. The release date itself is still 29 October.
Is there an early access or early unlock edition?
No. The Standard and Digital Deluxe editions share the same unlock timestamp. Paying more does not get you in sooner.
Can I preload Phantom Blade Zero?
Preload is reported to open on 27 October for PS5, alongside a roughly 134.9 GB download. S-GAME has not confirmed either figure. No PC preload details have been published.
How big is the download?
About 134.9 GB on PS5 according to a store size tracker. The PC size is not published, but an SSD is required at every setting.