When does Wild West Pioneers come out?
It is out now. Early Access unlocked at 12:00 UTC on 25 September 2026: 8 AM in New York, 1 PM in London, 2 PM in Berlin and 8 PM in Beijing. There was no rolling regional unlock: the announcement said the gates “open for everyone at the same moment”. (Announced in Steam announcement: Set Your Clocks, Partners)
What time is that where I live?
These are the eleven cities on the official map. Every one of them was still on 25 September when the game unlocked, so the day was the same everywhere on the list and only the hour moved.
| City | Local unlock time, 25 September |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 5 AM |
| Dallas | 7 AM |
| New York | 8 AM |
| Sao Paulo | 9 AM |
| London | 1 PM |
| Berlin | 2 PM |
| Johannesburg | 2 PM |
| Moscow | 3 PM |
| Beijing | 8 PM |
| Tokyo | 9 PM |
| Sydney | 10 PM |
The North American and European times are summer time: Los Angeles is UTC-7, New York UTC-4, London UTC+1 and Berlin UTC+2. If your city is not on the map, add or subtract your own offset from 12:00 UTC.
Why Steam only ever said “Sep 25”
Before launch, a Steam store page shows a planned release day, not a time of day, so the page read “Planned Release Date: Sep 25, 2026” and nothing more; since launch it simply says Release Date. (Shown on the Steam store page) The day itself was announced together with the release date trailer below. The hour came separately, in the post that carried the map above, and it names the same day the trailer did. That is why the store kept saying “Sep 25” with no time: the hour was never Steam’s to show.
Does it unlock at the same time on GOG and Epic?
Not in practice. The publisher’s own site listed Steam, GOG.com and the Epic Games Store together for 25 September, (in Toplitz Productions' open playtest news post) but when Steam opened, the GOG and Epic pages were still marked Coming soon with only a wishlist button. If you are buying there, watch that store’s page. The differences between the three are on the where to buy page, and the launch discount is on the price page.
How long will Early Access last?
About a year. The Early Access section of the store page says: “Our plan is to stay in Early Access for about a year.” (Said on the Steam store page) No date for the full release has been given. What is planned along the way, three named content updates, is on the Early Access and roadmap page.
How did it get to this date?
- First shown. The first announcement aimed for Early Access later that same year. (Said in Steam announcement: Wild West Pioneers Sighted on the Prairie!)
- Delayed. A later update on Steam moved Early Access into the following year and promised a small community beta test “to make up for the delay”. (Said in Steam announcement: Your Frontier Settlement, A Closer Look)
- Demo. A demo came out as part of Steam Next Fest. (Announced in Steam announcement: the demo launch post)
- Rework. After the demo feedback the team announced a new direction and took the demo down. The full story is on the demo page. (Announced in Steam announcement: A New Direction for Wild West Pioneers)
- Closed playtest. Players who signed up through the publisher’s Discord got in first. (Announced in Steam announcement: Playtest Invitation)
- Date revealed. The Early Access day arrived with the trailer above. (Announced in Steam announcement: the Early Access date reveal)
- Open playtest. Anyone could request access, with play capped at two hours. (Described in Toplitz Productions' open playtest news post)
- Top discount. Wishlists reached 200,000, the last tier of the launch discount. (Announced in Steam announcement: 200,000 Pioneers at the Gates)
- Launch time. The unlock hour and the city map were posted last. (Posted in Steam announcement: Set Your Clocks, Partners)
Related: price and editions, Steam, GOG or Epic, system requirements and the update log.