After years of community requests, the Epic Games Store has officially introduced game pre-loading, allowing players to download pre-purchased titles ahead of release. The update was first spotted by developer Local Bald last Thursday (2), marking a long-awaited quality-of-life improvement for Epic’s PC gaming platform.
Pre-Loading Games Comes to Epic — At Last
“Pre-loading is now available for pre-purchased products on PC from the Epic Games Store!” announced Local Bald on social media. “This new feature allows players to download titles they purchased up to five days (120 hours) before launch via encrypted build.”
This means players can now prepare for major releases in advance — much like on Steam, which has offered pre-loading for years. The feature should particularly benefit users with slower internet speeds or large game downloads, ensuring they can jump straight into gameplay the moment a title officially unlocks.
“The feature reinforces that players can jump into the game quickly upon launch, which especially benefits titles with larger downloads,” added Local Bald.
First Games to Support Pre-Loading
According to early reports, pre-loading is now active for major October releases, including Battlefield 6 (Standard Edition) and other upcoming titles available for pre-order on the store.
The move aligns with Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney’s ongoing plans to expand and modernise the store’s feature set. Sweeney has previously acknowledged user frustrations, admitting that the Epic Games Launcher could be “confusing” and in need of significant improvement.
Epic’s Long Road to Parity with Steam
Launched in December 2018, the Epic Games Store entered the market with the promise of more favourable revenue sharing for developers, taking only a 12% cut compared to Steam’s 30%. Despite this advantage and the platform’s popular weekly free games, Epic has struggled to match Steam’s level of usability and community features.
The addition of pre-loading represents a meaningful step toward closing that gap, but it may not be enough on its own. Players continue to request improvements such as better social features, achievements integration, cloud saves, and a more responsive launcher.
Still, this update signals that Epic is listening — and that the battle for PC gaming dominance between Epic Games Store and Steam is far from over.
