Preloading Becomes Available for PC Pre-Purchase Products on Epic Games Store
The preloading feature for PC pre-purchase products on the Epic Games Store became available on Oct. 1, 2025, as was announced via a post on the Dev Community forum of the storefront.
The feature allows players to download titles they have pre-purchased up to five days (120 hours) prior to release, ensuring that users can jump into the game on day one, bypassing the waiting time spent on downloading.
Notably, a video game digital distribution service and storefront operated by Epic Games is quite late in receiving such a feature, as Steam, PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store for Xbox, and Nintendo eShop implemented it years ago.
Developers interested in enabling pre-purchase functionality can create a private discussion and set the topic to “Epic Games Store,” or contact their Account Manager to request access via the Self-Publishing Tools.
The announcement encourages game developers to review the updated documentation on preloading and reach out to the store team to discuss enabling pre-purchase and preload functionality.