'Pokémon Sun and Moon' Release Date and Time: When can you play in the US, UK and Japan?

Impact
By Jake Kleinman

Pokémon Sun and Moon is set to launch on Friday, Nov. 18, but exactly when you can get your hands on the game depends on where you are in the world. Here's our full breakdown of the Pokémon Sun and Moon release date and time for the U.S., U.K., Japan and everywhere else.

Pokémon Sun and Moon release date and time: Nov. 18 for U.S., Japan and Australia

If you live in North America, Japan or Australia, you're in luck. Pokémon Sun and Moon is launching in these countries first on Nov. 18 before expanding to the rest of the world.

If you pre-ordered the game digitally, it should be available at midnight tonight Eastern Time. That's 9 p.m. tonight (Nov. 17) on the West Coast, 2 p.m. tomorrow (Nov. 18) in Tokyo and 4 p.m. tomorrow in Sydney.

If you're picking up Pokémon Sun and Moon at a store you should be able to find a copy on Friday. Nintendo has apparently shipped over 10 million physical copies of the game for the release date, so your local store probably won't run out of stock.

If you want to get your hands on a physical copy of Pokémon Sun and Moon as soon as possible, there's only one place to go. GameStop is holding midnight events at select stores. Here's the full list of participating locations.

Pokémon Sun and Moon release date and time: U.K. and the rest of Europe

Pokémon fans in Europe will have to wait a little longer to play Pokémon Sun and Moon. The game is set to launch in the U.K. and neighboring countries on Nov. 23. We don't know exactly what time it will be available in the region, but that information should become available closer to the official European release date.

Pokémon Sun and Moon release date and time: Start pre-loading now!

Pokémon Sun and Moon is almost here, but you can start downloading the game now. If you pre-ordered through the 3DS eShop in Japan, North America or Australia, you can pre-load it ahead of time.

You can start the pre-download process right now if you haven't already. Just make sure you have at least 3.2GB of free storage space and you should be good to go. Then, once the game is officially released, all you need to do is download a small extra update and you'll be up and running.