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If you’re wondering if you can preload Baldur’s Gate 3– we’re going to go over everything you might need to know right here.
While Baldur’s Gate 3 is a huge game demanding the best SSDs out there, there’s been no word if a preload is going to be available for the game. With such a huge download size, it seems strange that there’s going to be no preload for Baldur’s Gate 3.
This comes only a short time after those who had pre-ordered the PC version of the game found out that they will no longer have a 72-hour headstart over their competition. Though, those who likely felt hard-done by the change in plans were likely satiated by the fact that they were getting to play it a month earlier than the original release date.
Why can’t you preload Baldur’s Gate 3?
There is some form of Baldur’s Gate 3 preload, but it’s not conventional. At the moment, you can preload it by buying the Early Access edition of the game, however this will not allow you to transfer over any previous save data.
The real reason why you can’t preload Baldur’s Gate 3 is pretty interesting, and it relates heavily to the Early Access of the game. While the game – sort of – released way back in 2020, it was launched as a barebones early access package that included the first act, and the first act only.
This allowed players to have a spin through all of the Baldur’s Gate 3 origin characters, alongside testing out the game’s combat mechanics. However, this early access period has left the developers scratching their heads in response to figuring out a preload for the full game. Had they allowed for a preload to happen, they would have had to consider how to protect the later game content.
Alongside this, as the game is an early access title on Steam, they would have to lock customers out of accessing the game during the preload period, which Valve do not allow. Ultimately, this is the best of both worlds. While it might be annoying for some that they can’t play the game as soon as the release time hits, it’s still coming a month earlier than expected.
