Here's exactly when you can start playing Resident Evil Village
And everything else you need to know about the launch.
Resident Evil Village is 2021’s biggest video game release yet, taking the long-running horror franchise in a new direction that features witches, werewolves, and a tall evil lady that the internet is in love with. Critics have liked the game too, with Inverse saying “Village successfully blends the setpiece combat and eerie settings of RE4 with the slow, anxious atmosphere of RE7,” in our own review.
It currently sits at 84 on review aggregate site Metacritic. If the trailers, demos, and early reviews for Resident Evil Village have gotten you excited, this is what you need to know about the launch of the eighth mainline game in the Resident Evil series.
When is the Resident Evil Village release time?
Resident Evil Village has a straightforward release time on consoles of 12 a.m. Eastern on May 7, 2021. So you won’t find any fancy-looking release time charts or diagrams. Once midnight rolls around, you can start playing if it’s pre-loaded. Otherwise, you’ll have to purchase and download a digital copy at midnight — or wait for stores to open.
What is the Resident Evil Village file size?
Inverse can confirm that Resident Evil Village takes ups 27.409 GB of space on PS5. This isn’t a negligible amount of storage space, but it is significantly smaller than games like Returnal and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. You can even start playing it when only 10.908 GB of the game’s files are installed if you really have the launch day jitters.
The one advantage of the Google Stadia version of the game is that you don’t have to worry about its file size (because you’d be playing via the cloud!). On most other platforms, however, you’ll want to make some room on your hard drive for this game.
Can I preload Resident Evil Village?
Yes, you can preload the game on console. Preloads for Resident Evil Village are currently available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X. All you have to do is pre-order the game, and you should have the option to automatically start downloading it. If you do, you’ll be able to access Resident Evil Village right when it is released.
Is Resident Evil Village on Xbox Game Pass, PS Plus, or Stadia Pro?
No, Resident Evil Village is not on any of these services at launch. While Xbox Game Pass has had some major AAA games like Outriders come to the service on day one, Resident Evil Village is not one of those games. Meanwhile, PS Plus and Stadia Pro typically only add new games at the start of the month. You can get Resident Evil VII through the PS Plus Collection on PlayStation 5, though.
Currently, Google is sending a free Stadia Premiere Edition to anyone who pre-orders Resident Evil Village on the struggling cloud gaming service. A free demo that lets you play the game for 1 hour is available across all platforms Resident Evil Village is coming to. You will have to pay $60 for it to play the full game at launch though.
Resident Evil Village will be released on May 7, 2021.
