The day has finally arrived. After a long time waiting since the disappointing news of a non-simultaneous release of Monster Hunter World earlier in the year, Capcom pushed ahead readied the Monster Hunter World PC port slightly ahead of their own schedule. But when the game set to go live today, just when will Capcom allow you to preload the title ready for its eventual unlock? And just when does it unlock, anyway? All the questions (and a few more) will soon be answered.
For a long time now, Valve's Steam platform has allowed those who pre-order a title to download the game in question shortly before its set to unlock and become playable. If you haven't read our review yet, maybe that's something you can do while you wait. We called it "PC port perfection" for a reason.
The obvious benefit here is to allow players to have the game downloaded and ready to rock for the exact moment the game officially releases, but there are a few other benefits, too. Preloading allows players with sluggish connections to get the more painful aspect of gaming in the digital distribution ages – after all, what's the point of a release day if a slow connection and no preload means you can't actually play it for another day or two?
But more than that it generally allows a more stable roll out. We'll all likely run into server issues in a popular release over the years where hundreds of thousands of players bombard log-in servers and essentially push a 'release time' back by several hours while things calm down. Preloading passively alleviates that by allowing players to download lofty data files in their own time, meaning download servers are rarely rushed off their feet as everyone sends download requests at the same time.
Monster Hunter World PC Preload Times - When Can You Download The Game?
The cruel truth about Steam preloads is that they're never guaranteed. We're not sure on the specifics, but it's clear that publishers aren't under contract to offer a preload option at all. So what does this mean for the Monster Hunter World preload? Well, if you're googling around for an answer to that question on release day, you're probably already expecting the answer.
Without beating around the bush, we're afraid to say that Monster Hunter World preloads simply don't exist. Nor will they. That's right, Monster Hunter World PC will launch without a preload period, meaning the vast majority of users just won't be able to play the moment the game goes live.
And clocking in at 20GB for the full install, those on a slower connection likely won't be able to get much time into the game before you're yawning and ready for bed – if you're playing in Europe, that is.
Monster Hunter World Unlock Times In Your Region
Monster Hunter World on PC is a beast in its own right, and playing it will undoubtedly see the hours whittle away like dust. The day has finally arrived, but with no preload available, we must at least know when the game will unlock on Steam, right?
Right!
Monster Hunter World on PC, like any other Steam release, is bound by a specific unlock timer. Rather than go live at midnight like plenty of other games do on other platforms (you know, when 'release day' meant midnight), you're likely well aware by now that Monster Hunter World PC didn't release at midnight.
Instead, Monster Hunter World will go live at a time that's more convenient for more people across the globe. These times aren't confirmed, but they'll be pretty close (if not perfect) based on the information that's trickled out over time.
For Europe, that means waiting for 4pm BST to roll around for the game to unlock in the specific region. Europe's timezones don't differ too wildely from each other, so give or take an hour depending on your more precise timezone. You can use something like WorldTimeBuddy to do the conversion if you need.
For America, or specifically those running on Pacific Time (PDT), you should expect the Monster Hunter World PC install button to light up at 8am. American's won't have to push through a whole day to play if they've taken the day off work – but those who haven't will need to head out knowing the an entire continent is pushing ahead content-wise before retiring for a nice rest in a comfy bed.
And getting screwed over as ever are places like Australia and New Zealand. Being far ahead of most of the world puts Australia in a difficult position. With so many timezones there alone, it makes this whole block of information a little tricky. We'll stick to GMT+10 for this and say Monster Hunter World unlock times for Australia and New Zealand are in the early hours of Friday. 1 AM if you're living in a GMT+10 area like Melbourne, or 11 PM if in Perth. For New Zealand players in or around Wellington, you're looking at 3am – which is pretty bad.
For Japan and Asia, the story is much the same. Japan itself won't get to play until 12 AM tomorrow. The same goes for South Korea (if Monster Hunter World even releases there the same day).
Here's a nice list to summarize!
- UK (BST): 4 PM, Thursday, August 9
- Europe (CET): 4 PM, Thursday, August 9
- North America (PDT): 8 AM, August 9
- Japan (JST): 1 AM, August 10
- Australia (Perth): 11 PM, August 10
