Titanfall pre-load now available, global release times announced

It's a lot of work to transport electronic data. To get Titanfall to the UK, Respawn will presumably have to manually print every line of code, pack it into a secure, waterproof crate, and then sail it over the Atlantic. Once it arrives, all that data must then be typed into the UK's internet, probably by Johnny Lee Miller's fictional character from the movie Hackers.

At least, that's the only sensible scenario for having staggered international release dates. And yet, Titanfall pre-loading is now available for pre-ordered digital copies. It suggests that, rather than some tricky infrastructural hurdle, the reason many countries won't be able to play the game until later this week is down to the usual prioritisation of physical media, and the unwillingness of brick and mortar stores to deviate from their traditional release window.

Release dates and times have now been clarified by EA in a blog post accompanying their pre-load announcement. If you live somewhere in the world, this is when you'll be able to play the game:

Central Asia: (Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand) 3/11 12:00 KST
North America (United States, Mexico, Canada, Brazil) 3/11 12:00 AM EST
Russia: 3/11 11:00 MSK
Australia: 3/12 13:00 UTC
Japan: 3/12 15:00 UTC
Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland): 3/12 23:00 UTC
New Zealand: 3/13 12:00 UTC
India: 3/13 18:30 UTC
United Kingdom: 3/13 23:00 UTC
Ireland: 3/13 23:00 UTC
Portugal: 3/13 23:00 UTC

Of course, such a staggered launch isn't unusual. For big games that still have a physical presence, it's only the very biggest that can pull off a day-and-date international launch. Still, it's a constant irritation, as - thanks to the connectedness of the internet - many countries will get to spend tomorrow hearing from people enjoying the game, while unable to play their own copies.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.