ArcheAge Chronicles unlocked in Early Access on Steam on November 3, 2026 at 3:00 PM PST, which is 23:00 UTC, and is now live. In Beijing that is 7:00 AM on November 4. XLGAMES announced the date in a Steam news post on October 27, 2026, and the Steam store page lists the same day.
Launch time in your time zone
The unlock was at a fixed moment: 23:00 UTC on November 3. By November the US has moved to standard time, so the Pacific time in the announcement is PST (UTC-8). Here is the same moment in other places.
| Place | Time | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (PST) | 3:00 PM | Nov 3 |
| New York (EST) | 6:00 PM | Nov 3 |
| Sao Paulo (UTC-3) | 8:00 PM | Nov 3 |
| UTC | 11:00 PM | Nov 3 |
| London (GMT) | 11:00 PM | Nov 3 |
| Central Europe (CET) | 12:00 AM | Nov 4 |
| Beijing | 7:00 AM | Nov 4 |
| Seoul | 8:00 AM | Nov 4 |
| Sydney (AEDT) | 10:00 AM | Nov 4 |
The PST, UTC and Beijing times are in XLGAMES’ announcement. The other rows are our own conversions from 23:00 UTC. Your device knows your local offset better than a table does.
What “Early Access” means here
Steam describes the launch as Early Access, not a full release. XLGAMES said in its Steam Early Access FAQ that it expects Early Access to last about 9 to 12 months, with major and minor updates along the way. The timeline may change with player feedback and development progress.
At launch the game includes:
- Three regions of Auroria: Diamond Shores, Gylden Ruins and Astron Plains.
- Four classes with two weapons each, eight weapons in total.
- Exploration, dungeons, raids, PvP, housing, crafting, trading, and company and guild activities, according to the Steam FAQ.
Producer Ham wrote on October 29 that Early Access opens more than 60 areas, roughly twenty times the size of the demo. See the map guide for the regions.
Price and pre-order bonus
The US Steam price is $29.99, with no discount listed. Pre-orders include the Dawn Pioneer Set, a costume set for one class of your choice, which you claim in game now that Early Access has begun. XLGAMES calls it exclusive to the pre-order. The price page has the full breakdown.
What happens after the unlock
XLGAMES said the first update after launch is planned for December 2026. It is set to add a female Warrior option and a Gladius weapon for the Warrior. A roadmap is promised “soon after launch,” once players have had time to play.
Progress from the Steam Next Fest demo does not carry over to Early Access, according to the Steam demo notice.
Launch-day reception
Early reviews are split. On November 4 at 02:04 UTC the Steam store showed Mostly Negative (38% of 113 user reviews positive); by 02:18 UTC the same day it showed Mixed, 47% of 269 user reviews positive. In the English reviews we read, the most common complaints were performance (stutter and unstable frame rates), bugs such as freezes and relaunches during character creation, and missing options such as rebindable movement keys. Steam scores move quickly in the first days, so check the store page for the current number.
Before you play
- The game needs 100 GB of free space and an SSD. See the system requirements.
- Steam lists Windows only. See platforms for console and Steam Deck status.
- Your server region is picked automatically from your location. See servers.
- On first launch the game shows a shader compilation screen, so a loading screen at the start is expected, according to Producer Ham’s letter.
XLGAMES opened pre-download on Steam on the morning of November 3 (PST), ahead of the unlock, in its Early Access Pre-Download Now Available announcement.