PSA: Starfield preloads are now live on Steam

Starfield — a Starfield player character approaches a hovering, glowing, gyroscope-like artifact.
(Image credit: Bethesda Game Studios)

Starfield is now available to preload on Steam, and it's a hefty 116GB download. If you've preordered ahead of the RPG's semi-official September 1 release, and the option to preload isn't showing, just reboot the Steam app.

Preloading has been available on PC Game Pass for a while, so if you're a subscriber and playing it there, you're likewise able to install it right now. It's a massive download, so I recommend you do.

The global Starfield release times vary depending on how much you pay for Bethesda's new outing. If you buy the Premium Edition you gain access as early as August 31; if you're slumming it with the standard edition, or playing it on PC Game Pass, it'll launch as early as September 5. 

I'm getting the sense that Microsoft wants to make a bit of cash with Starfield. That Premium Edition incentive is going to cause a lot of FOMO and a lot of impulse purchases over the coming days. Not only that, but the $1 PC Game Pass trial has rather conveniently disappeared in the days ahead of Starfield's release. I guess it's fair enough: Microsoft's first-party offerings haven't been that great for years, and Starfield needs to count.

Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.

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