Honkai Star Rail launch time and rewards explained

When can you play Honkai Star Rail? The new turn-based JRPG from Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse technically has an April 26 release date, but its exact launch time means many Western players will get to play it today, April 25. 

Honkai Star Rail will launch on April 25 at 7pm PT/10pm ET/3am BT (April 26) on PC and mobile. The game is also coming to PS4 and PS5 but won't be available on console at launch. 

You've still got plenty of time to pre-register for the game and pre-download it so you're ready to log in as soon as the servers go live. Given that Honkai Star Rail has already surpassed 10 million pre-registered users, there's a fair chance the servers may struggle come launch time, so be prepared for a potential login queue.

Thanks to all those pre-registrations, Hoyoverse is giving out some launch goodies to early Honkai Star Rail players. All players – even if you didn't pre-register and start playing after launch – will receive 20 Star Rail Passes which are good for the game's standard banner, 100,000 Credits to spend on upgrades, and a copy of the four-star character Serval (who seemed pretty solid in the beta test). You'll have a full year to claim these rewards via in-game mail. 

Honkai Star Rail is also throwing a login event to celebrate its launch. If you log in for a total of seven days by June 6, you'll receive 10 Star Rail Special Passes which can be used on limited banners for exclusive rate-up characters like Seele, the game's debut rate-up. To claim them, all you have to do is unlock the Travel Log in-game, which can be done very early on. 

The Travel Log will also let you access bonuses for reaching Trailblaze levels 5, 15, 25, and 35. You can increase your level by exploring, completing quests, clearing daily commissions, and spending energy on resource farms. There's no time limit on this, and with regular play, it shouldn't take long to reach level 35. For tips on how to speed up that grind, here's how to increase your Trailblaze level in Honkai Star Rail. 

By rank 35, you'll have earned a total of 40 more Star Rail Passes as well as 1,600 Stellar Jade which can be used to purchase 10 additional Special Passes. Combined with the new-player and launch bonuses, this will give you more than enough passes to guarantee a five-star character from the beginner Departure Warp banner, which gives you a 20% discount on passes spent (a 10-roll actually only costs eight rolls) and guarantees a five-star character after 50 rolls. Just note that this banner is separate from the others, so the pity count will not carry over. 

For additional rewards, here's how to get the latest Honkai Star Rail codes. You can also clear the Honkai Star Rail simulated universe for permanent rewards including a free character.