MiHoYo’s latest installment of the Honkai series is soon set to arrive as Honkai: Star Rail finally makes its highly anticipated debut. While miHoYo’s other gems Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact are still thriving among loyal fans, players are also quite eager to set off on the new space fantasy adventure and are thus wondering when the game will officially go live.
Some aspects of Honkai: Star Rail will remind Genshin and Honkai Impact fans of features they already know. Certain characters present in the new game are alternate versions of those that exist in Honkai Impact and the general look and feel will remind players of Genshin, but Honkai: Star Rail also possesses many features that mark it as a very different game from the others.
Related: How to use the Honkai: Star Rail Interactive Map
The combat in Honkai: Star Rail is turn-based, which is quite a stark change from the extremely free-flowing style of combat in Genshin. Honkai: Star Rail sort of has an open world, but this world is vastly different from Genshin’s as it is more a series of smaller worlds that players can navigate through than one massive continuous map as is the case with Teyvat in Genshin.
Players will experience Honkai: Star Rail as the Trailblazer, which is the protagonist of the game and functions similarly to the Traveler in Genshin. But as is also the case with Genshin, so too will players be allowed to recruit new playable allies through a gacha system.
Honkai: Star Rail also takes players off-world in a space fantasy adventure that is quite unlike the grounded world of Teyvat in Genshin. Overall, the game certainly possesses some similarities to miHoYo’s past titles but is also paving a path of its own for players to explore.
Whether you’re looking to see how miHoYo’s newest game stacks up against the rest of their roster or already know you’ll love the space fantasy RPG and plan to play long-term, you’ll want to ensure you know when Honkai: Star Rail officially goes live so that you can jump into the action as soon as possible.
What time does Honkai: Star Rail release?
Honkai: Star Rail will go live at 9pm CT on April 25. However, the time and day it becomes accessible will vary depending on your timezone, which means it will not go live until April 26 for many players.
Honkai: Star Rail release date and time
Honkai: Star Rail is set to debut globally, meaning all prospective players can jump in on the action at the same time. However, the exact time will look different based on the timezone you are in.
If you’re wondering when exactly you can board the train and set off on miHoYo’s space fantasy RPG, here is a breakdown of when Honkai: Star Rail will go live across different timezones.
- CT: 9pm on April 25
- PT: 7pm on April 25
- ET: 10pm on April 25
- BT: 3am on April 26
- JT: 11am on April 26
- EET: 5am on April 26
- AET: 1pm on April 26
- NZT: 3pm on April 26
At the official launch time, Honkai: Star Rail will go live for PC, Android, and iOS. If you are hoping to explore miHoYo’s immersive new world on the PlayStation 5 or the PlayStation 4, then you’ll have to wait longer before the game goes live there.
No official launch date for the PlayStation is available just yet, but miHoYo’s Honkai: Star Rail website promises that an official announcement will occur before it goes live there. The only information that is currently up on the website regarding the future the PlayStation release is that “later versions” will become available for the platform.
Players who are ready to begin their space fantasy journey on some of the platforms that it will launch on can ensure they are able to jump into the action as quickly as possible by pre-installing the game ahead of its official debut. This feature is already live for those who pre-register and download Honkai: Star Rail ahead of time.
In my experience with miHoYo games, delays as extremely rare, which means that as long as you pre-install before the official launch time then you should be able to begin your journey right at the time that Honkai: Star Rail goes live within your timezone.
