The launch schedule for Shadow of the Erdtree is almost as mysterious to figure out as the game itself.
The PC version of Shadow of the Erdtree is now available!
Visit our Shadow of the Erdtree guide portal, which has links to all of our guides covering the enormous expansion, while you’re downloading the update from Steam. For general guidance on navigating the Land of Shadow, see our suggestions for Shadow of the Erdtree as well.
Set your reminders for the Shadow of the Erdtree unlock times, tarnished ones, as the release date of the Elden Ring DLC is quickly approaching. Everything you need to know about the precise release date for the massive new DLC section can be found below. I even tried to sound like a FromSoft lore nerd and explained everything to you, the one who truly understands to play Erdtree first?
Just in case there was any doubt, you should play through this expansion right now. In our evaluation of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, we gave it a very high score of 95%. Check out our guide on how to unlock Shadow of the Erdtree to get a refresher on which bosses to defeat and where to go in the game’s new area, the Land of Shadow, so you can be sure you’re ready for launch.
Is there preloading for Shadow of the Erdtree?
Shadow of the Erdtree does not come with preloading on PC or Xbox. Positively, the expansion is far smaller than the original game—it only requires a download of roughly 15 gigabytes. Players of PlayStations can start preloading up to 48 hours before launch.
When does Shadow of the Erdtree launch?
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree will be available for PC gamers on Thursday, June 20 at 3 PM PDT / 11 PM BST. That’s why FromSoftware has been emphasizing June 21 as the release date—that’s 7 am in Japan on that day. But make no mistake, for many of us, Shadow of the Erdtree debuts on Thursday night.
The global launch time for Shadow of the Erdtree on PC in other time zones is as follows:
- 3 pm PDT June 20 (Los Angeles)
- 6 pm EDT (New York)
- 11 pm BST (London)
- 8 am AEST June 21 (Sydney)
- 10 am NZST June 21 (Auckland)
To add to the complexity, Shadow of the Erdtree will start rolling on consoles at midnight local time in the majority of locations. FromSoft’s infographic above illustrates that Shadow of the Erdtree, a console game, opens worldwide at midnight local time, with the exception of the United States. On Thursday, June 20, at 12 a.m. Eastern time, or 9 p.m. Pacific, console players will all be playing.
Who gets to play Shadow of the Erdtree first?
Console users in New Zealand will be the first to play Shadow of the Erdtree at midnight local time on June 21, which is equivalent to 5 am PDT / 1 pm BST on June 20. They now have a roughly 10-hour advantage over PC gamers.
Owing to time zones and platform differences, console players in the eastern hemisphere will essentially launch their games first, followed by PC players worldwide and console players in the western hemisphere who will launch their games at midnight. Makes about as much sense as the primary story of Elden Ring.
