Red Dead Redemption 2: How and Why You Should Pre-Load the Game

Nate Hohl 5 years ago
Nate Hohl 5 years ago

Red Dead Redemption 2 launches in a mere few days, this Friday, October 26 to be exact. If you haven’t started pre-loading the game, you definitely should, and we’ll explain why. Even better, we’ll show you exactly how you can begin the pre-load process if you haven’t already.

Here's how and why you should pre-load Red Dead Redemption 2.

Why should you pre-load Red Dead Redemption 2?

Unsurprisingly, Red Dead Redemption 2 is going to be a big game, like really big. A minimum of 99 GB free space needed big. If you’re downloading the digital PS4 version of the game, you’ll need 99 GB of hard drive space. Xbox One users will need even more free space, 107 GB to be exact.

Those massive free space requirements also apply if you’re buying Red Dead Redemption 2’s physical disc version. In fact, the physical version on PS4 actually needs an additional 50 GB, bringing the grand total up to 149 GB. If you want to play Red Dead Redemption 2 on launch day, best to start downloading all that data now.

How to pre-load Red Dead Redemption 2

Sadly, you’re out luck if you bought a physical disc version of Red Dead Redemption 2. The good news is that data writes quicker from a disc than a download, so the wait shouldn’t be long. If, however, you bought a digital version, you can start pre-loading as of this writing. Rockstar confirmed via Twitter that the pre-loading period for Red Dead Redemption 2 began last Friday:

Digital version buyers can initiate the pre-load by navigating to Red Dead Redemption 2 in their respective digital marketplace. For PS4 that would be the PlayStation Store and for Xbox One it should be the Xbox Live Marketplace. Once there, they should see a download link which will initiate the pre-load when selected. Expect the process to take a while since you’ll be downloading between 99 and 107 GB of data. There might be a day-one patch that needs to be downloaded on launch day whether you pre-load or not. However, pre-loading now will significantly cut down the amount of time you have to wait come October 26.

For more on Red Dead Redemption 2, be sure to read our guide on the pre-order and special edition bonuses.