EA FC 27 is almost here, and if you're the type who sets an alarm for early access launch, listen up: PC and console players won't be starting at the same time. MSN has the breakdown, and it's the usual split we've come to expect from EA's football machine.

Console players get the midnight local time treatment, which means New Zealand trickery is back on the table for anyone who remembers the old timezone-hop days. If you're on Xbox or PlayStation in most regions the game unlocks at midnight local time on early access day, so the farther east you are the sooner you're kicking off.

PC players meanwhile get a single global unlock. Steam and the EA App flip the switch at the same moment worldwide, which usually lands in the afternoon for US players and late evening for Europe. Nobody gets an advantage this way, but nobody gets the midnight moment either. You just wait until everyone unlocks together, like a raid group waiting on the last member to load in.

The early access window itself comes through EA Play Pro on PC or by pre-ordering the Ultimate Edition on any platform, so check which tier you actually bought before you plan your night. The standard edition sits and waits for the full release date a week later. That's the playbook EA has run for years now and it still works, because Ultimate Team players want those first hours of market chaos more than almost anything in gaming.

And that's really what this week is about, isn't it? The first-night sniping on the transfer market. The sweaty Division Rivals matches against people who clearly didn't sleep. The group chat filling up with pack pull screenshots. My FIFA-adjacent memories are mostly of a college dorm and one broken controller, but the ritual is the same everywhere: everyone shows up at launch, tired and happy.

One practical tip from someone who's watched this launch cycle many times: if you're on console and serious about those first hours, check your region settings before the night arrives. And if you're on PC, don't sit there refreshing at midnight your time wondering why nothing's happening. The global unlock doesn't care about your timezone.

So set your alarms accordingly, and may your first packs be kinder than mine usually are. If you're jumping in at launch, tell your club I said good luck, because the market's going to be a bloodbath either way.