Only the Deluxe Edition includes early access, and it is 48 hours. The Standard Edition has none. Steam states the start as one instant; the PS5 start is worked out from that store’s release time.
How to read: time runs left to right, and both lanes end at the dashed full-release line. Only the Deluxe lane has anything to the left of it. Original diagram for this site. The 48-hour block is the same length as the field on Steam.A red-lit walkway leading to a door with a teal light above it. Screenshot from the game's Steam store page. Owned by Screen Burn, KONAMI and Annapurna Interactive.
Where the PS5 start comes from
How to read: solid green boxes are first-party statements, the amber box is arithmetic on them, and the dashed box only agrees with it. No first-party page states the PS5 start itself. Original diagram for this site.
Steam gives one early-access instant for everyone. PlayStation gives none: each store page states only its own release time, and PlayStation.Blog names the 48 hours without a clock. Subtracting one from the other yields the PS5 rows on the unlock time page, marked Inferred. If the inference holds, a PS5 head start begins 48 hours before your store region’s local midnight. The same six regions with their standard unlocks are on the PS5 page.
Questions
Who gets the 48 hours?−
Only Deluxe. Steam’s Editions table lists the Standard Edition’s pre-order bonus as the Rusted CRTV skin, and the Deluxe Edition’s as that skin plus 48-hour early access. Editions table on the Steam store page Steam’s announcements label Deluxe as digital only. Announcement text: Steam announcements (ISteamNews API)
“Bonus Application containing an interactive artbook and digital soundtrack, plus 48-hour early access”
Beside it Steam runs a countdown to the start. That start is a stored instant, the one on the unlock time page, where it is listed as stated.
Can I read reviews before it opens?+
The IGN, Game Informer and Push Square review pages carry publication times earlier than the Deluxe start instant, so critic scores are already out before anyone in the head start begins. Scores and outlets are on the review page. Timestamp on IGN reviewTimestamp on Game Informer reviewTimestamp on Push Square review
Is there a demo?+
Not found: an official demo. Steam’s page, the PlayStation Store page and the publisher pages carry no demo listing and no statement about one. What would change this: a demo download on either store, or a statement from Konami or Annapurna. Deluxe early access is the full game ahead of release, which makes it a different thing from a demo.
What is still Not found?+
Whether a Deluxe order placed after the head start begins still includes it.
Whether the Epic Games Store sells the same Deluxe Edition with the same head start. Epic’s page blocks scripted requests; see the PC page.
