EA Play members can start playing EA Sports FC 26 today, ahead of Early Access starting at midnight

Players looking forward to the release of EA Sports FC 26 can play the game earlier than expected, even if they’ve bought the Ultimate Edition.

Early Access for the game begins at midnight tonight (the night of September 18) on all consoles regardless of region, whereas the PC version launches at the same time worldwide (September 18 at 9pm ET, midnight in the UK).

However, players subscribed to EA Play – including Game Pass Ultimate, which includes an EA Play membership – can start playing the game via its 10-hour trial earlier than this, according to EA.

The Trial period starts at 1pm UK time, meaning UK players will be able to to access the game 11 hours earlier than its official midnight Ultimate Edition release.

EA Play trials essentially act like the full game, meaning when the 10-hour trial ends (or when the game is actually live and the player has bought it) their progress carries over.

Here’s the start times for the EA Play trial and each Early Access period for Ultimate Edition customers:

EA Sports FC 26 – EA Play 10-hour trial

• New Zealand – September 19 at midnight (evening of September 18)
• Australia – September 18 at 10pm
• UK – September 18 at 1pm
• USA (Eastern) – September 18 at 8am
• USA (Pacific) – September 18 at 5am

EA Sports FC 26 – Early Access (Ultimate Edition) – PC version

• New Zealand – September 19 at 11am
• Australia – September 19 at 9am
• UK – September 19 at midnight (evening of September 18)
• USA (Eastern) – September 18 at 7pm
• USA (Pacific) – September 18 at 4pm

EA Sports FC 26 – Early Access (Ultimate Edition) – Console version

• Global launch – September 19 at midnight in your local time (evening of September 18)

The release at midnight in all regions for the console version of the game usually means that Xbox owners can use the ‘New Zealand trick’ to start playing the game early, by changing their console region settings to New Zealand and pretending midnight has already passed.

However, this new earlier time for the EA Play trial period not only means that Xbox owners no longer need to do this, but PS5 owners can now also access the game a day earlier if they have an EA Play membership.