Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is out now on Steam, PS5, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. In the US it unlocked on Steam, PS5 and Xbox at 12:00 AM Eastern on Thursday, October 15, 2026, which is 9:00 PM Pacific on Wednesday, October 14, according to each store’s launch listing. Steam used that same moment for the whole world (04:00 UTC), while the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Store unlocked the game at midnight local time in each country.
Updated October 16, 2026: Belmont’s Curse is out now on every platform, and Konami’s official site has marked it “Available Now” since October 15. Konami has also posted a known issues notice, and on October 16 it released update Ver. 1.1.3 on Steam for a black screen at launch on high refresh rate monitors. We have added the known issues, Konami’s workarounds and what the update fixes below.
Konami itself only announced the date. Its official site for Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse lists October 15, 2026 for every platform, Nintendo Switch included, and gives no hour. The times below come from the stores’ own launch data as we checked it on October 12, so here is when it unlocked wherever you are, the launch issues Konami has confirmed, and how to carry over your demo save.
Release Time by Platform
| Platform | US unlock (Eastern) | US unlock (Pacific) | How it rolls out worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam (PC) | 12:00 AM, Oct 15 | 9:00 PM, Oct 14 | One global unlock at 04:00 UTC |
| PS5 | 12:00 AM, Oct 15 | 9:00 PM, Oct 14 | Midnight local time in each region |
| Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC | 12:00 AM, Oct 15 | 9:00 PM, Oct 14 | Midnight local time in each country |
| Nintendo Switch | Not announced | Not announced | The eShop lists the date only |
The US PlayStation Store and the US Microsoft Store each give the country a single launch time, midnight Eastern, rather than a separate time per US time zone. That is why West Coast console players also get in at 9:00 PM on the 14th.
Known Issues: Black Screen on High Refresh Rate Monitors
Some PC players could not get the game to start at launch. Konami’s Known Issues Notice on the official site lists three problems:
- Steam and Xbox on PC: the game may fail to launch when V-Sync is turned off and the frame rate is set to Unlimited.
- Steam Deck: some UI elements may appear partially off-screen. Konami says it is investigating a fix.
- PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam and Xbox on PC: players using certain system languages (mainly Arabic) may not get past the title screen after saving and quitting to it. Konami’s workaround is to switch your system language to another supported language, such as English, to keep playing from your save.
For the launch problem, Konami’s workaround is:
- Change your monitor’s refresh rate in Windows to below 60Hz.
- Launch the game and select Settings from the title screen.
- Under Video Settings, turn V-Sync on, then close the game.
- Set your monitor’s refresh rate back to normal.
- Launch the game again; Konami says it should now play normally.
On October 16, Konami followed up with a Steam notice saying it has released Ver. 1.1.3 to address the game failing to launch with a black screen on high refresh rate monitors. Konami says it expects the update to improve the issue, but that “it may still occur in certain environments” and it is still working toward a full fix. If the game still will not start after updating, Konami asks you to contact its customer support.
Steam Release Time in Every Time Zone
Steam’s store page counted down to one worldwide unlock at 04:00 UTC on October 15. That works out to:
- Los Angeles (PDT): 9:00 PM, Wednesday, October 14
- Denver (MDT): 10:00 PM, Wednesday, October 14
- Chicago (CDT): 11:00 PM, Wednesday, October 14
- New York (EDT): 12:00 AM, Thursday, October 15
- São Paulo (BRT): 1:00 AM, Thursday, October 15
- London (BST): 5:00 AM, Thursday, October 15
- Paris and Berlin (CEST): 6:00 AM, Thursday, October 15
- India (IST): 9:30 AM, Thursday, October 15
- Tokyo (JST): 1:00 PM, Thursday, October 15
- Sydney (AEDT): 3:00 PM, Thursday, October 15
- Auckland (NZDT): 5:00 PM, Thursday, October 15
This is also why the Steam page shows a release date of “Oct 14” to many American visitors: 04:00 UTC on the 15th is still the evening of the 14th on Pacific time, and that is the date the page displays. Nothing moved. On Steam the game costs $29.99 for the Standard Edition and $39.99 for the Midnight Edition, needs Windows 11 and 10 GB of space, and lists an Nvidia GTX 1650 as the minimum graphics card.
PS5 and Xbox: Midnight Local Time
The console stores worked differently from Steam. Both the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Store listed a separate launch moment for each region, set to midnight on October 15 in that region:
- United States: midnight Eastern (9:00 PM Pacific on October 14)
- United Kingdom: midnight BST
- Germany: midnight CEST
- Japan: midnight JST
- Australia: midnight AEDT
- New Zealand (Xbox): midnight NZDT
The practical upshot: outside the Americas, console players started hours before Steam players did. A player in London on PS5 or Xbox could start at midnight, five hours before the 5:00 AM Steam unlock, and a player in Sydney got in fifteen hours earlier on console than on Steam. In the US the two lined up exactly.
On Xbox, a single Microsoft Store listing covers both Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, so the Xbox app on Windows used the same midnight-local launch times as the console.
Nintendo Switch Release Time
Nintendo’s US eShop page listed October 15 with no time attached, and Konami never published one. The Switch version got its date later than the rest: Konami’s June 8 announcement set October 15 for PS5, Xbox and Steam and said the Switch date would follow, and Konami’s official site confirmed on July 15 that Switch launches the same day.
The Switch version is now on sale on the eShop at $29.99 for the Standard Edition and $39.99 for the Midnight Edition, the same prices as on the other US stores.
Carry Over Your Demo Save
If you played the free Belmont’s Curse demo, which Konami released on October 1 on PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X|S and Steam, you do not have to replay the opening chapter. Its save data carries over to the full game. Konami’s conditions for the transfer:
- Play the demo and the full game on the same platform and the same account.
- Keep the demo save data on your system until you transfer it.
- Update the full game to its latest version before loading the demo save.
Follow those steps and you pick up past the opening chapter as soon as the full game is installed. The demo itself was small (6 GB on PS5, 5 GB on Xbox, 4 GB on Steam and 3 GB on Switch).
Reviews and the Famitsu Score
Konami never announced a public review embargo time, and reviews from English-language outlets were appearing by October 13, two days before launch. Before that, Konami’s Japanese site said the game earned a place in Famitsu’s Gold Hall of Fame in the cross review printed in the issue that went on sale October 8, and Nintendo Life reports that all four Famitsu critics scored it 8 out of 10. If you are still deciding, the demo is the better guide to whether you will like it, since it is the actual opening of the game.
Belmont’s Curse is one of the biggest games coming out in October, and it lands in the middle of the series’ 40th anniversary, which also made the original Castlevania free on phones for a limited time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse come out? It is out now. On Steam it unlocked worldwide at 04:00 UTC on October 15, 2026, which is 12:00 AM Eastern and 9:00 PM Pacific on October 14. On PS5 and Xbox it unlocked at midnight local time in each region, which in the US meant midnight Eastern.
Why does Steam say October 14? Because the 04:00 UTC unlock falls at 9:00 PM Pacific on October 14, and that is the date the US store page displays. Konami’s official date is October 15 everywhere.
What time does it come out on Nintendo Switch? Neither Konami nor Nintendo published a time. The eShop listed only October 15, 2026, and the Switch version is now on sale there.
Does the demo save carry over? Yes. The free demo covers the opening chapter, and its save carries over to the full game on the same platform and account, as long as the full game is updated to its latest version first.
Does the Midnight Edition unlock earlier? No. Konami announced no early access for either edition, and the Microsoft Store listed the same launch moment for the Standard Edition and the Midnight Edition.
Why does Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse show a black screen on PC? Konami says the game may fail to launch on high refresh rate monitors, especially with V-Sync off and the frame rate set to Unlimited. Update Ver. 1.1.3, released on Steam on October 16, addresses it, though Konami says the problem may still occur in certain environments. Its workaround is to set the monitor below 60Hz in Windows, turn V-Sync on in the game’s Video Settings, close the game and restore the refresh rate.