I've purchased a game on Steam and pre-loaded it so that I can play it on the release date. What I want to know is what time can I play my pre-loaded games?
Method 4: Adjusting Time and Time Zone. Steam is a system that collects real-time data from your system. There may be a discrepancy between the time in your system and the set time zone. In case of any such irregularity, Steam is bound to crash. In that case, it is advised to reconcile time and time zones. Press “Win + R”.
Is it at:
- Midnight (User's time.)
- Midnight (Somewhere else. i.e. Some specific timezone)
- Some set time (If so, is it always the same or different for each game?)
user27134
Richard Marskell - DrackirRichard Marskell - Drackir
4 Answers
This depends on a whole lot of factors. The unlock time differs based on the game, the region you're in and even who you are.
For example, Deus Ex: Human Revolution unlocks August 23, 2011 in the US, August 25, 2011 in Australia, August 26, 2011 in Europe and September 8, 2011 in Japan. This will also mean that it is usually midnight at those dates in those regions.
Also notable, Portal 2 unlocked earlier for some users than others, namely those who got a Golden Potato. (Approximately 9 hours earlier.)
However, you can always just check the store page on Steam. It will have a bar showing when it will unlock. For example, for me the page for Deus Ex shows this:
That's midnight on Thursday in my timezone.
user56
It's per-game, and I would assume it's up to the publisher.
For example, going by the Steam pages' time estimates (for me in NA):
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution releases at midnight PDT
- Dead Island releases at midnight EDT
- COD: MW3 releases at noon PST
- Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad releases at noon CDT
As Arda notes it may also be location-dependent.
Matthew ReadMatthew Read
My guess is that it's probably a set time in a specific time zone (like 10 PM PST, 17 GMT, 18 CET, etc.).
Not sure if this'll help at all, but doesn't it say when It'll approximately unlock? weeks/days/hours?
RPGprayerRPGprayer
As far as i noticed it is set to your computers time. I changed my password and after a week it said i could access the Steam market on 6/27/2015 10:33:27. I looked up my time on google( because my computer's time is off) and it was 12:13. My computer says it was 9:31 and at 10:33 i could go back to the market. So i don't know about pre releases and games and such but i do think it goes by your computer's time.
Johnny BravoJohnny Bravo