Metro Awakening release time – here’s when the post-apocalyptic VR title launches for everyone

If you can't wait to try out the VR translation of the Metro series for yourself, we've got you covered with the official Metro Awakening release time.

The Metro Awakening release time is set to lift later this week, giving players across all VR platforms the chance to survive the Russian underground.

If you own either a Meta Quest or PSVR2 headset, you’ll know how barren recent months have been for genuinely great AAA VR releases. Fortunately, this looks to have changed before the end of the year, with Batman: Arkham Shadow and now Metro Awakening both releasing as pretty great VR translations of their franchise’s console counterparts. With Vertigo Games’ incredibly faithful adaptation of the post-apocalyptic underground survival shooter series due out this week, the Metro Awakening release time is set to lift extremely soon.

Playable on Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and PSVR2 (in addition to PC VR via Steam) Metro Awakening is an origin prequel story set five years before the events of 2010’s Metro 2033. It gives long-time players the chance to gain a new perspective on how people were forced to survive the metro prior to the arrival of silent series protagonist Artyom. Featuring the same resource scavenging, shooting, and general survival gameplay, we awarded Metro Awakening 3/5 in our review and called it “sometimes clumsy but authentically faithful”. That said, if you want to gain further context for the franchise’s wider narrative, the Metro Awakening release time is essential to be aware of.

Metro Awakening release time

As confirmed by a Twitter post from Vertigo Games yesterday, the early access release for Metro Awakening is live right now across all platforms – meaning anyone can already play. That said, those who don’t want to pre-order ahead of time can look forward to the Metro Awakening release time lifting roughly two days later at the same times of 5am GMT / 12pm EST/9am PST on Thursday, November 7 . Of course, there’s nothing from stopping VR players enjoying the game right now by jumping into the 48-hour early access release, but most people won’t have to wait too much longer.

Metro Awakening is one of the first notable VR-only game releases to mimic the same early access release plan seen with many AAA console titles, most recently seen with the likes of Star Wars Outlaws and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Players that choose to jump into Metro Awakening on the official launch day will receive the exact same experience as those who are part of the early access, with the only exception being that early access players gain access to the Deluxe Edition.

According to the official Meta store page, the Metro Awakening Deluxe Edition unlocks access to a digital art gallery as well as the following cosmetic in-game items:

• Nosalis Hide Backpack
• Nosalis Skeletal Gloves
• Nosalis Toy Charm
• The fallen Patch

Metro Awakening’s Deluxe Edition contents won’t directly affect gameplay. However, as a nice bonus for passionate Metro fans eager to jump in as early as possible, the ability to customise your backpack and gloves is a nice touch.