Elden Ring preloading is live

Elden Ring - A knight in a helmet pulls out a sword
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Elden Ring reviews are out, and they are astoundingly good. We scored it 90% in our own review, calling it a "brilliant" open-world action-RPG whose only real failing is that it falls back on the familiar a little too often. The aggregate critical review score on Metacritic is even higher.

There's a good chance you already had your mind made up about diving into Elden Ring on launch day, but if you had any doubt, that likely settles it. And with that resolved, you are now officially clear to begin preloading the game on Steam.

Elden Ring won't actually go live until either Thursday or Friday, depending on your time zone—the PC version will unlock at 3 pm PT/6 pm ET on February 24, and you can find unlock times for other regions in Elden Ring's release timing schedule

The Elden Ring preload requires 49GB of storage space, which isn't very much as these things go, but the overall system requirements are actually fairly beefy: You'll need a minimum of a Core i5-8400 CPU, 12GB RAM, and a GTX 1060, and considerably more if you aim to hit the recommended spec.

While you wait for the magic moment to arrive, you can prepare yourself for a strong start with some of our handy guides: The best keepsake to choose, a rundown of the different classes, and everything you need to know to create a character in Elden Ring.

Elden Ring guide: Elden Ring bosses: Elden Ring dungeons: Elden Ring paintings: Elden Ring map fragments:Elden Ring co-op:

Elden Ring guideConquer the Lands Between
Elden Ring bossesHow to beat them
Elden Ring dungeonsHow to defeat them
Elden Ring paintingsSolutions and locations
Elden Ring map fragments: Reveal the world
Elden Ring co-op: How to squad up online

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Merchant in Santa outfit.
Elden Ring is 40% off in the Steam Winter Sale, the cheapest it's been since this time last year
Elden Ring Nightreign screenshot
Elden Ring Nightreign's Steam page lets slip it'll have DLC bosses and player characters
elden ring nightreign
3 hours with Elden Ring Nightreign helped me accept it's not the co-op FromSoft game I asked for, but damn fun in its own right
Godwin, Hans, and Henry stand side by side. Godwin is saying something to them while hunched over slightly.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 launch times and release date
A judgemental monster hunter stares, wide-eyed, towards the camera while riding a steed in a rocky, arid canyon.
Monster Hunter Wilds reviews roundup: Either 'a new peak for the series,' or 'may have lost its soul,' depending on who you talk to
elden ring nightreign
Elden Ring Nightreign release date set for May, will cost $40
Latest in RPG
Henry gets a haircut.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's March patch brings zoomer haircuts for Henry and the return of the hardcore mode that can kill you before the game even starts
Suikoden 1&2 HD remaster
Suikoden 1&2 HD Remaster review
Farland Story, a PC-98 RPG from 1993
When PC RPGs were at their crunchiest and most hardcore in the 1990s, Farland Story set itself apart by… being cute?
Dry Devil holds a torch and grins.
Kingdom Come 2 and Avowed have revealed to me the grand unified theory of game design: A good game is when you can steal back the money you just spent at a shop, a bad game is when you can't
Rue Valley key art
The creators of Disco Elysium unofficially consulted on fascinating upcoming RPG Rue Valley during a brutalist architectural tour of Belgrade: 'It was completely unexpected'
kingdom come: deliverance 2 sphere world
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 modder snaps, transforms all women, animals, and doors into fleshy spheres but turns all men invisible: 'It’s just spheres. Experience spheres!'
Latest in News
Protein molecules, illustration
AI helps turn highschool project into world saving tech which promises to devour 150 tons of fast-fashion plastic each year
Trump chip tariff
Japanese companies begin stockpiling in response to new Trump tariffs: Cue a ton of PS5 stock and stale cans of coffee
An image of a WD_Black SN850X SSD against a teal background with a white border
The best 1 TB gaming SSD you can buy is now just $79, the cheapest it's been for a good while
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., wears Orion augmented reality (AR) glasses during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Meta Platforms Inc. debuted its first pair of augmented reality glasses, devices that show a combined view of the digital and physical worlds, a key step in Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's goal of one day offering a hands-free alternative to the smartphone.
Meta's Orion AR glasses still have no 'killer use case' but want devices to hang out on your face, on your wrist, and now in your pocket too
Monster Hunter Wilds screen
Monster Hunter Wilds: Turns out updating drivers fixes brand new game. Again
A sign reads "HATRED IS POWER"
A demo for a lost videogame based on George Orwell's 1984 has emerged from the memory hole