Path of Exile 2 release time: When does Early Access begin?

Path of Exile 2 Early Access is ready to go live. After a three-week delay from its original release date, the game is finally coming to Steam (PC), PS5, and Xbox concurrently on December 6 (PST and UTC). Thankfully, the time of release is also set in stone, letting players plan out their day-one schedule in advance.

In this article, we present a countdown to the precise release time for Path of Exile 2 Early Access.

Path of Exile 2 Early Access release time for all regions

Path of Exile 2 is slated to go live on December 6 at 11 am PST (7 pm UTC) globally across all platforms, including consoles. Here's what the release time looks like for various regions across the world:

United States: 11 am PST / 12 pm noon MST / 1 pm CT / 2 pm ET (December 6)
Europe: 7 pm GMT / 7 pm UTC / 9 pm CEST / 10 pm EEST (December 6)
Asia: 11 pm GST (December 6) / 12:30 am IST (December 7) / 3 am PHT (December 7) / 3 am CST (Beijing Time - December 7) / 4 am JST/KST (December 7)
Australia: 5 am AEST / 6 am NZST (December 7)

Barring any last-minute technical difficulties, this is the currently known release time as confirmed by Grinding Gear Games. For ARPG fans eagerly anticipating the release of this title, here's a countdown:

Is Path of Exile 2 Early Access free-to-play?

While Path of Exile 2 itself will be free to play on full release, the Early Access release is paywalled. You gain guaranteed access by purchasing any of the Path of Exile 2 Supporter Packs, starting at $30.

These packs will also give you a requisite amount of premium currency of the same price, so technically, you're also getting your money's worth once the game goes free to play.

Can you preload Path of Exile 2 Early Access?

With a file size exceeding 100 GB, Path of Exile 2 will be a sizeable download. Thankfully, you can pre-download the game on Steam, PS5, and Xbox as long as you own the Early Access.

The developers are yet to revealed the specifics of when preload will be available. If we were to make an estimation, it should be up a full day before release.

If you're waiting in line for the release, or for the pre-download to complete, here's all the Classes and Ascendancies available at Early Access launch for your perusal.

Stay tuned for more Path of Exile 2 news and updates on Sportskeeda.