When did it change ?

High School Years drops at 6pm for UK players.

@SimTrippy you're right. With midnight releases Australia/NZ got packs first & the US east coast got them last. Think they were based on GMT not pacific time.

I don't think they've dropped at midnight in quite some time, actually. EA has worked hard to make it easier on the EU, so that they aren't the last ones to be able to get the game. I'm uncertain just how they do it now, but I think it's based off of Pacific Time, since that's the time zone in which they're based.

"GalacticGal;c-18157723" wrote:
I don't think they've dropped at midnight in quite some time, actually. EA has worked hard to make it easier on the EU, so that they aren't the last ones to be able to get the game. I'm uncertain just how they do it now, but I think it's based off of Pacific Time, since that's the time zone in which they're based.

Actually I'm pretty sure with the midnight releases (one of) the last time zone(s) to get it is the US - and AUS/NZ are first ?

I'm seeing the trend of midnight releases for almost everything dying out now. COVID killed midnight release parties at game stores, and I haven't seen a book or movie midnight release since the early 2010s (with harry potter and twilight being the last franchises i noticed even getting these, i remember a big deal about star wars prequels midnight releases when i was a kid but i don't think they did that for the sequels)

Though with most games being bought digitally instead of in-stores now, and movies going straight to streaming, and books being on tablets... there isn't really a reason to have a midnight release anymore I guess, since no one goes in-person for the big midnight party anymore.

Why even bother preordering? You don't get a big moment to share with your friends now like you used to. Unless it's a Nintendo game with limited supply to the West upon release, there's really no reason to buy something on day 1 anymore. But I'm starting to get a bit off topic with that last thought so I'll stop there.

I loved midnight releases. Many games still release at midnight digitally. In Europe the pack would unlock at at 11.30 pm the night before release. We were one of the first to get the pack, not the last. It actually really annoys me that EA now force us to wait till 6pm on the day of release. For all the games I buy The Sims is the only game that insists on doing that.

In Nz we used to get the game at least a day before everyone via shops when it was disks. Sometimes the store even had the midnight hours so we could buy it as it released. Then when it changed to online it was the same for a bit, but then people started using keys to fool origin into thinking they are in Nz to get it earlier as well (which apparently caused chaos on servers) , then all of a sudden we started getting it later as we do now. We get it a little after the release time now. Well probs around the same time, but I am not young enough to get up at 5am and play the game LOL. Just to explain the time difference, its now Thursday 28 July 6:12pm at us ;)

It releases 5am 29 July for us ;)
https://i.imgur.com/VhmUIVg.png

My game said tomorrow at 11:00am I believe. I just wish they would just add it once it was 12:00 everywhere but then again I’d probably stay up playing it all night so maybe that’s a good thing they didn’t. ?

I'm still waiting for my activation key. Origin says 11 am mountain time for me in Alberta Canada. However I bought through CDkeys so not sure when I get the activation key.

"verlainem;c-18158455" wrote:
I'm still waiting for my activation key. Origin says 11 am mountain time for me in Alberta Canada. However I bought through CDkeys so not sure when I get the activation key.

It's 12:24pm MT - do you have it yet?