When Does "Ready Player One" (2011) Take Place?
"Ready Player One" is a science fiction novel written by Ernest Cline and released August 16th, 2011.
It takes place in the year:
We know this because at the very end of chapter "0001", when the reader sees Wade Watts log onto the OASIS for the first time, the login is time-stamped "07:53:21 OST–2.10.2045" for 7:53 AM on February 10th, 2045 AD.
2045 AD
We know this because at the very end of chapter "0001", when the reader sees Wade Watts log onto the OASIS for the first time, the login is time-stamped "07:53:21 OST–2.10.2045" for 7:53 AM on February 10th, 2045 AD.
(HOWEVER...
Wade describes himself as "an eighteen-year-old kid" in the prologue and, halfway through the novel, declares "I was eighteen, I could vote". When he encounters Nolan Sorrento, Sorrento intimidates Wade by reading off his information: "We know who you are. Wade Owen Watts. Born August twelfth, 2024." These numbers would put the story in 2042 AD.
2024 + 18 = 2042.)
During the "0000" prologue, it's clearly stated by Wade in narration that James Donovan Halliday "died a sixty-seven-year-old bachelor" "during the night" before "that January morning". Then, as Halliday's last will and testament video called "Anorak's Invitation" is described, a footnote tells us, "Halliday now looks exactly as he did in a school photo taken in 1980, when he was eight years old." If Halliday was 8 in 1980 AD and 67 when he died (triggering the public release of "Anorak's Invitation"), 59 years had passed and the prologue primarily takes place roughly in 2039 AD.
67 - 8 = 59.
1980 + 59 = 2039.
The prologue goes on to say, "By 2041"... and describes the progression of the world as "gunters" attempt to find the key to Halliday's fortune through 2041 AD. Finally, the prologue teases that things changed "After five long years" on "the evening of February 11, 2045".
It was adapted to film in 2018.
