For those who will able to play at midnight...

[AquaMarie]

...or even as early as 9pm on 3/19..

Will you be changing your clock so that you can arrive during the day? Assuming tt is still possible of course. I'm on the west coast, so I'll be able to play at 9pm. I'm thinking I might change my clock to 9am, so I get to enjoy the daylight hours. I don't normally like to tt, but this is one instance I can see myself during it.

 

[oath2order]

Nah, I didn't do that during the NL release.

I do enjoy nighttime game. I work full-time so I won't experience it much.

 

[minisam]

I don't think I will. I'll play for a bit, maybe create my character and go through the tutorial and save the rest for the morning. Already have Friday and Saturday requested off.

 

[meggiewes]

Even though I'm getting it digitally and it will be ready to play on the 19th, I'm waiting for the 20th because it doesn't seem right that I would be able to play it a day early. Plus, I really want my very first experience to be during the daytime.

 

[dizzy bone]

It'll be ready to play soon after I wake up, since midnight EST for me is noon over here. So I'll be seeing it during the day!

 

[twinkletoes]

No, it gives me more time to reset for what I want & start the next day. It releases at 9PM here so hopefully I won't be up until 5AM.

 

[heartache]

Based on the IGN article about the first 30 minutes of gameplay, it seems the game actually doesn't run on real time at first! So it should be daytime at first no matter what, I think.

That being said, if I'm mistaken and that's not the case, I'm still going to start playing at 11pm my time. I've created this whole story in my head of my character having a long day of traveling and being super excited and tired to get there, even if it's late! She's also probably going to be a little disappointed when she finds out she has to sleep in a tent after a long day like that, but what does she expect?! She signed up to go to a deserted island!

 

[rezberri]

no because i want to catch the night time bugs because it may be the only time i'm awake enough to catch them lol. and the resident center's (i just realized it's called resident services oop- ) open 24/7 so it's not like i won't be able to do everything; it'll probably just be talking to the villagers that i won't be able to do.

 

[sierra]

Im diving right in at 9PM my time!

 

[jiojiop]

IGN said that the first 'day' is all tutorial, so it will be daylight and not actually sync with your clock. It only starts to sync with the clock once you finish the tutorial:

The actual collection process is the same as it’s always been and I wasn’t given access to tools, so my actions during the first day were limited. But eventually, the day came to a close and when my character awoke New Horizons had synced to real-time (it runs on its own time for the first tutorial day)

 

[iExist]

I ordered my copy physical.

 

[Lunova]

I am in the UK so i'll be able to play at midnight however I ordered a digital copy and the themed console so i'll play whenever it arrives on the day .

 

[AquaMarie]

IGN said that the first 'day' is all tutorial, so it will be daylight and not actually sync with your clock. It only starts to sync with the clock once you finish the tutorial:

Oh, that's nice to hear! I really didn't want to tt, but I wasn't sure how I felt about choosing spots for tents at night and things like that. I am just going to leave it in real time in that case.

 

[SheepMareep]

I'm so jealous I got a physical copy so I cant play until after 8am on the 20th :c If I could play at midnight i dont think I'd change the time just because of the first day being non real time c: but if it would be night at the beginning i would 100% change it to morning. I like planning during the day!

 

[DJStarstryker]

I'll play sometime during the day on the 20th personally. I want to play the game on day 1, but I don't feel the need to disrupt my sleep by starting that soon.

Traditionally, it has felt best to start an AC game during the day because of the shop being open. That way you could start making some beginning money by selling fruits and shells. But they said the Resident Services tent is open 24 hours, and that seems to let you buy some things and sell, so I think it doesn't really matter when you start the game now.

 

[Khaelis]

I'm buying physical since I'm not a fan of digital, so I have to wait until 8AM~ on the 20th.

 

[Hedgehugs]

Doesn't matter if it's 12am or 12pm, I'm playing Animal Crossing the moment I get it.

 

[Aubrey895]

Even though I'm getting it digitally and it will be ready to play on the 19th, I'm waiting for the 20th because it doesn't seem right that I would be able to play it a day early. Plus, I really want my very first experience to be during the daytime.

Wait it?s available the 19th digitally? What time?

 

[AquaMarie]

Wait it’s available the 19th digitally? What time?

It's available 12am EST on 3/20, which would be 9pm PST on 3/19. So it just depends on your time zone.

 

[EpicGamer12]

I'm not staying up until 1am (I live in the AST timezone), but if I was, I would just play at night. According to IGN's article, though, the very beginning of the game (aka the tutorial) is actually time-independent. It will likely appear as day for everyone, and then when you "wake up" the next day in game, it will be synced with the real clock.