Starfield Early Access became available officially on September 1, 2023, but in many regions, access began the evening of August 31, 2023. For example, in the US Pacific Time Zone, Early Access started at 5:00 p.m. on August 31, and other time zones correspond accordingly. To play Starfield Early Access, you need to have pre-ordered the Premium Edition or Constellation Edition, or upgraded to the Premium Edition if you are a Game Pass subscriber. The full global release of Starfield was on September 6, 2023, for those with the Standard Edition. Here are some notable early access start times:

• August 31, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time (PT)
• August 31, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)
• September 1, 1:00 a.m. British Summer Time (BST)
• September 1, 10:00 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)

Early access allowed players to start playing up to five days before the full release, but it required purchasing the higher-tier editions or upgrade packages.