I can't even find the game on game pass yet. I read somewhere that it will be available on game pass on day one. Has this been changed? If not, will the pre download be available some time today for us as well?

Pre-downloaded.... for me in CET right now it was always 17tth AUG, but today it switched to 18th AUG.... puzzling. But probably this 'bug' is not just about central US in the end.

Because EGS doesn't support preload feature properly.

Sublustris wrote:

Because EGS doesn't support preload feature properly.

But today is the release date, why doesn't it allow to start playing game?

The launch time is set for 15:00 GMT or 16:00 French time if I recall correctly. You will need to wait a few more hours. ;)

Sublustris wrote:

Because EGS doesn't support preload feature properly.

It doesn't support anything properly

Flee from this launcher like the plague if you can, while your saves and the integrity of your machine is still intact

^ This guy gets it )

uladzimir_shymanski wrote:

Sublustris wrote:

Because EGS doesn't support preload feature properly.

But today is the release date, why doesn't it allow to start playing game?

Because you need to wait.
If I can give an answer as to why, it's because the Earth rotate on itself in a period of ~24h

Oh, you didn't want to know what a time zone is ?

You don't go in stores at 3am when it's only open during the day, do you ?

That's the same thing here

Don't be impatient, it will be available when it is available

uladzimir_shymanski wrote:

Rexeit wrote:

uladzimir_shymanski wrote:

Sublustris wrote:

Because EGS doesn't support preload feature properly.

But today is the release date, why doesn't it allow to start playing game?

Because you need to wait.
If I can give an answer as to why, it's because the Earth rotate on itself in a period of ~24h

Oh, you didn't want to know what a time zone is ?

You don't go in stores at 3am when it's only open during the day, do you ?

That's the same thing here

Don't be impatient, it will be available when it is available

When Epic Games says that the release date is 8/17/21, I expect to start play this game at 00:00 of the announced day. 

If the time of this date matters, it should be clearly stated in the description of the game. 

I don't ask you about the timezones, I know what it's even better than you, as work on software internationalization/localization more than 10 years. I'm asking about ambiguous text of error message that appears in Epic Games launcher when I try to start it and ambiguous game description which formed wrong expectations on my side. 

The best solution in this case would be to add a timer that shows remaining time based on user's region to avoid such confusion in a future.

P.S. your example with the store is incorrect for this particular case. 

"When Epic Games says" well, that's your answer

Epic game didn't create the game, nor publish it, and aren't even competent

Take the developer word, not some launcher

And yeah sure, you work on that and I'm an astronaut.

If you knew those things, you wouldn't complain like that

Go complain to epic game, not here.

Steam has a message "This game will launch in approximatively X hours " The message also gets updated as time passes. It is an issue with the Epic Games store that they do not have the courtesy to add a timer or an announcement when the game will be available exactly.

They are not known for their customer service to be frank. :)

uladzimir_shymanski wrote:

Rexeit wrote:

uladzimir_shymanski wrote:

Sublustris wrote:

Because EGS doesn't support preload feature properly.

But today is the release date, why doesn't it allow to start playing game?

Because you need to wait.
If I can give an answer as to why, it's because the Earth rotate on itself in a period of ~24h

Oh, you didn't want to know what a time zone is ?

You don't go in stores at 3am when it's only open during the day, do you ?

That's the same thing here

Don't be impatient, it will be available when it is available

When Epic Games says that the release date is 8/17/21, I expect to start play this game at 00:00 of the announced day. 

If the time of this date matters, it should be clearly stated in the description of the game. 

I don't ask you about the timezones, I know what it's even better than you, as work on software internationalization/localization more than 10 years. I'm asking about ambiguous text of error message that appears in Epic Games launcher when I try to start it and ambiguous game description which formed wrong expectations on my side. 

The best solution in this case would be to add a timer that shows remaining time based on user's region to avoid such confusion in a future.

P.S. your example with the store is incorrect for this particular case. 

Just because Epic Games stated it's releasing on the 17th of Aug. does not mean automatically that it'll be available at 00:00. It's your own fault for assuming such and not searching for information beforehand because there are loads of possibilities for the time of release, not just 00:00. There's absolutely no need to fault Amplitude for it, especially since the information you base your judgment on is from a second party that only sells the game but doesn't publish it. I suggest checking if your assumptions are correct before basing your expectations on them.

Your suggestion with the timer is a nice one, that's what Steam does for example, so it would have been pretty easy for you to find out the actual release time as well.