No Man's Sky - Monolith
No Man's Sky Photo: Hello Games

No Man’s Sky, a new space exploration title from Hello Games, makes its long-awaited debut this week. The game will be available at retailers around the globe, along with digital distribution services like the PlayStation Network and Steam. But many are still wondering when the launch build of No Man’s Sky will be available for download.

Of course, the fastest way to get into No Man’s Sky , if you haven’t pre-ordered a copy yet, is swinging by your local brick-and-mortar game retailer to pick up a physical copy. Many stores are already breaking street date, the servers have seen their final pre-launch wipe and the Day One patch is already available for download. But many people prefer digital downloads to physical discs in 2016. Thankfully, it sounds like those fans will get access to No Man’s Sky at around the same time. With a little preparation.

According to Sony, the PSN version will be unlocked (in all regions) at 12:01 a.m. EST on Aug. 9. If you live farther west, you’ll actually get your first chance to play No Man’s Sky on Monday night. But those who wait until the early hours of the morning to begin installing the game probably won’t get a chance to play until sometime on Tuesday. Fortunately, digital pre-loading is already available.

Those who’ve purchased their copy of No Man Sky from the PlayStation Store have been able to download a locked build of the game since Sunday, Aug. 7. If you’re planning to stick with a digital copy, we recommend doing the same. As we mentioned, the game’s Day One patch is already out and download speeds for launch day updates don’t tend to be very fast. That said, the current physical version of No Man’s Sky is only 6 GB, and the PlayStation Store only lists the game at 3.4 GB , so it should be a much faster download than the average triple-A release.

No Man’s Sky is in development for PS4 and PC. The game makes its console debut on Tuesday, Aug. 9, followed by a PC release on Aug. 12.

Sony