Wuthering Waves, the potentially next big thing in free-to-play action RPGs, comes out this week.
How potentially big? Well, it’s only been heralded as a worthy successor to games like Genshin Impact (or a “Genshin Killer,” to put it more bluntly). And to put a number to it: Developer Kuro Games boasts north of 30 million pre-registrations ahead of Wuthering Waves’ launch this week.
In fairness, the staggering number is likely due to various in-game rewards tied to pre-reg milestones, but chatter from closed beta sessions suggests that game might legitimately be good on its own merits. Here’s when Wuthering Waves releases in your time zone, plus some details about some of the rewards you can get for playing this week.
Wuthering Waves release time and date schedule
Wuthering Waves is set to go live globally on Wednesday, May 22 in North America and Thursday, May 23 in Europe and Asia, according to a social media post from Kuro Games. Here’s when that is in your time zone:
- 7 p.m. PDT (Wednesday, May 22) for the West Coast of North America
- 10 p.m. EDT (Wednesday, May 22) for the East Coast of North America
- 3 a.m. on BST (Thursday, May 23) for the U.K.
- 4 a.m. CEST (Thursday, May 23) for Western Europe/Paris
- 11 a.m. JST (Thursday, May 23) for Tokyo
Wuthering Waves will be available on Android, iOS, and Windows PC via the Epic Games Store. You can start pre-downloading as of 6 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 21. (Developer Kuro Games said the game is planned for a PlayStation release but has not yet announced a date.)
Wuthering Waves pre register rewards
Pre-registering for Wuthering Waves results in a series of in-game rewards available at and shortly after launch, You can see the full list (it’s long!) on Kuro Games’ X/Twitter account, but here are some highlights:
- At launch, you’ll be able to perform “convenes” (what Wuthering Waves calls its gacha banners) at a 20% resource discount, and are guaranteed to get one of the following five-star “resonators” (what Wuthering Waves calls its characters) within 50 pulls: Jianxin, Calcharo, Verina, Lingyang, or Encore.
- Consecutively sign-in for seven days and you’ll get 4 lustrous tides, 4 radiant tides, and the four-star resonator Sanhua.
- At launch, you’ll be able to claim the following in-game currencies: 20 lustrous tides, 200 astrite, and 80,000 shell credits. You’ll also get 10 advanced resonance potions and the “Sigil: En Route” item.
Wuthering Waves Official Release Benefits Overview
Wuthering Waves is set to release on May 22 (PT). The game is ready for pre-download on May 21, 03:00 (PT). Through the following events, you can claim these in the game for free: Lustrous Tide x84, Radiant Tide x14, Astrite… pic.twitter.com/Q9iFlG3fuH— Wuthering Waves (@Wuthering_Waves) May 20, 2024
If you haven’t done so yet, and if you’re reading this in time for launch, you can pre-register for Wuthering Waves directly on the game’s website here.