Earlier this month we informed our readers of a slight shift in release date for the hotly anticipated Sword Coast Legends. While the push back is only a few weeks instead of the dreaded months-long delays very common with major releases, it still meant fans would be waiting a bit longer before getting their hands on the game.

The good news is that fans who pre-ordered the game will be able to jump in closer to the original release date, with Head Start set to kick off on September 11. That’s right folks – in just a few short weeks you’ll be able to bask in the warm glow of SWC in all its glory. Mind you, this will only be for the PC, Mac, and Linux client versions as console release dates are still slated for later this year.

You’ll also need to pre-order the game to take advantage of the Head Start access. If you’ve been on the fence or haven’t purchased the game yet, be sure to check out the various pre-order packages on the official website. You can also pick the game up directly on Steam if you’re mainly interested in the digital client, but the official site has some other packages available that come bundled with some pretty darn badass physical includes worth checking out.

How Head Start Access Works

Head Start access for Sword Coast Legends currently has three planned sessions. The first of these is scheduled for September 11-13, and it will only be available to members of the Design Council. In other words, you’ll need to have pre-ordered the Limited Edition Collector’s or Campaign Collector’s packs for this round.

The second access period runs the following weekend from September 18-20, and will be open to all pre-order customers.

These first two sessions will focus on the brilliant DM modes of Campaign Creation and Dungeon Crawl. To avoid spoilers for everyone else, the main story campaign will not become available just yet. It does at least allow eager DMs to get in and begin working out some custom content, and get a feel for how the real-time interactive tools work. Very nifty stuff that I was highly impressed with during my demo time at E3 this year.

The third and final Head Start session is set to begin on September 24^th and will run through the official release date on the 29^th. Standard pre-orders will once again gain access to the DM tools, while the Design Council members will also gain access to the main Story Campaign at this point.

As a final quick note, SCL will also be at PAX Prime next week from August 28-31. For those of you attending the event, be sure to drop by Booth #1642 to check it out.