Blizzard president Mike Ybarra reveals Diablo 4 unlock times two months ahead of launch

Diablo 4 screenshot
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Blizzard president Mike Ybarra has fired off a tweet revealing the global release times for Diablo 4, which is set to go live on June 6—unless you spring for one of the fancier editions.

The Diablo 4 product page on Battle.net indicates that the Digital Deluxe and Ultimate editions of Diablo 4 will give owners "up to 4 days early access" to the game. Down in the fine print, it clarifies that time is an estimated, and that "actual play time [is] subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences."

Ybarra had previously tweeted that Deluxe and Ultimate edition owners could start playing on June 2, but today he corrected that statement, saying that early access will begin at 4 pm PDT on June 1, which works out to 12 am on June 2 in Europe, and 8 am on June 2 in Asia. Of course, Asia has 11 time zones—it's a pretty big place—and Ybarra said in a follow-up tweet that he was referring specifically to Korea Standard Time.

The reference to Europe was also a bit off: Ybarra clarified that actually meant London (that is, British Summer Time), meaning it will go live at 1 am Central European Time.

If you happen to live in a part of the world that isn't included in those time zones, you can save yourself the headache of having to do math by using this simple but handy time zone converter

(Image credit: Twitter (Mike Ybarra))

If you're not springing for one of the fancy releases, the standard edition of Diablo 4 will actually unlock a little earlier than expected, at least in North America. The launch date is listed as June 6 but Ybarra said it will actually go live at 4 pm PDT on June 5, which means 12 am on June 6 in the UK, 1 am in Europe, and 8 am in South Korea. 

Regardless of which version you want to throw your money at, Diablo 4 is still a couple months away, but you can get a head-start on your characters right now with this simple but very handy build planning tool

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Diablo 4 screenshot
Diablo 4's second expansion won't be out until 2026
Assassin's Creed Shadows key art.
Ubisoft reveals Assassin's Creed Shadows preload and unlock times
Avowed companions - Kai
Avowed launch times, release date, and advance access period
Assassin's Creed Shadows knowledge rank - A close-up shot of Naoe with a determined facial expression.
Assassin's Creed Shadows unlock times for each region
Godwin, Hans, and Henry stand side by side. Godwin is saying something to them while hunched over slightly.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 launch times and release date
monster hunter wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds release times and preloading
Latest in RPG
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
Latest in News
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'