What time can I play 007 First Light?

007 First Light James Bond talking to blonde woman in red dress at a bar — (Image credit: IO Interactive)

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Early access release time
Launch time
Pre-loading

The 007 First Light release time is very nearly here, so get your shaken martini and license to kill at the ready, especially if you've pre-ordered for early access. While most big releases these days offer a few days of early access as a deluxe edition treat, 007 First Light instead grants only one day of playing early, but it is at least included for free with every pre-order, and it's live now! But if you haven't pre-ordered this James Bond thriller just yet, here's everything you need to know about when you can play 007 First Light on PS5, PC, Xbox, and even Switch 2.

007 First Light early access release time

007 First Light James Bond shooting at enemies — (Image credit: IO Interactive)

If you pre-ordered 007 First Light, you automatically get the Deluxe Edition of the game for free, which includes 24 hours of early access which is available right now on all platforms.

Furthermore, because 007 First Light releases at the same time around the world, there's no way to play the game early using the New Zealand time zone trick – the 24 hours of early access gained from pre-ordering is your only option if you want to get in before the full launch time.

007 First Light release time for PC and consoles

007 First Light global release time map — (Image credit: IO Interactive)

Otherwise, 007 First Light releases at 2PM UTC on May 27 on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Stores. Here's what this global simultaneous release looks like for different time zones around the world:

US Pacific: 7AM PDT on May 27
US Eastern: 10AM EDT on May 27
UK: 3PM BST on May 27
Central Europe: 4PM CEST on May 27
Eastern Australia: 12AM (midnight) AEST on May 28
New Zealand: 2AM NZST on May 28

007 First Light will also be releasing on Switch 2, but it has been delayed and will apparently release at some point this summer instead.

Can you pre-load 007 First Light?

007 First Light James Bond on top of cliff in iceland looking at dome base — (Image credit: IO Interactive)

Since the early access period has now started, pre-loading isn't an option anymore. Those that have pre-ordered 007 First Light can start downloading the game right now to make the most of their 24 hours of early access.

The full install size appears to be around 80GB on PC and Xbox Series X, while only around 50GB on PS5, so make sure you've got enough free storage on your platform of choice.

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Will Sawyer is a Guides Editor at GamesRadar+ with over five years of experience in writing online guides, news, and features, and has a BA (Hons) in Journalism. Starting as a freelancer, Will contributed to startmenu and Game Rant before joining the GamesRadar+ team in August 2021. Since then, he has written hundreds of guides about a huge range of games, with shooters and action games being his areas of expertise. Outside of writing about games, Will hops between multiplayer shooters with friends, such as Darktide and Helldivers 2, and delves into whatever has been on his backlog for far too long. He also tries to get through his never-ending Warhammer pile of shame of grey Tyranids, Aeldari, and Chaos Space Marines.