PC Preloading

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by WelshTM, Sep 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM.

  1. WelshTM

    WelshTM Well-Known Member

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    Hi all,

    was wondering if we will be able to pre-load TSW6 on steam by any chance? Or do we need to wait until 1800 Thursday?

    ta
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2025 at 5:05 PM
  2. Emmy_MAN

    Emmy_MAN Well-Known Member

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    You cannot download anything in advance on Steam.
    And you will not be able to download anything tomorrow after 6 p.m. either.

    This is because TSW 6 will not be released until Thursday, and even then only if you have purchased the Deluxe or Special Edition.
     
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  3. WelshTM

    WelshTM Well-Known Member

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    Sorry! Been off work for a while and lost track of time :D yes I meant Thursday.

    is there any particular reason we can’t pre-load on steam, whilst consoles can? Just out of curiosity :)
     
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  4. jesper2805

    jesper2805 Well-Known Member

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    All the content is ready for download on thursday from 1800BST! For steam players you can download all you're existing dlcs in EA phase. Not earlier with a pre-load! Why there is no pre-load i don't no!
     
  5. WelshTM

    WelshTM Well-Known Member

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    Yes, I’m aware it releases Thursday on early access, just lost track of time :)

    was just curious if, like consoles, we could pre-load to save time on release
     
  6. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    I believe it's because in the PC universe they can't do what Microsoft and Sony can do in their closed console ecosystems, download locked game files for which the key is released at scheduled launch. PC game files either are unlocked, or easily cracked.
     
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  7. Disintegration7

    Disintegration7 Well-Known Member

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    That makes a ton of sense tbh

    I wish i could preload but it is what it is- i'm gonna try to download my US stuff first because i really want to get the full layered experience for the Morristown line, then just let the rest download over the following couple of days while i'm at work.
     
  8. jesper2805

    jesper2805 Well-Known Member

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    Sorry not 100% true... If you on XBOX PC pass you can pre-load games.
     
  9. Disintegration7

    Disintegration7 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah because its basically the Series X version running on your PC. Hackers/pirates are probably only interested in the native PC version.
     
  10. jesper2805

    jesper2805 Well-Known Member

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    He? No PC versions are stand alone and not releated to any Xbox version sofar i know....
     
  11. WelshTM

    WelshTM Well-Known Member

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    The files downloaded from the Microsoft Store (That's what the Xbox app uses,) are still accessible on PC. It's not that hard to bypass the lock on the files. You just need to change the owner of the folder in Windows settings.
     
  12. Emmy_MAN

    Emmy_MAN Well-Known Member

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    However, the OP asked about Steam, not about an XBOX PC pass!
     
  13. jesper2805

    jesper2805 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah and that was not why i was responding :) See above ;) I think it was very handy if pre-loading is possible and on steam you can do that with other games. The same as on XBOX PC Pass
     
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  14. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    I believe some Steam games do a preload and unlock so you don't have to wait to get going, but presumably the encryption in TSW is too weak to allow that to be the case. There is a certain irony that a substantial portion of the "early access" period may well just be taken up adding all your content - though as I noted in another thread, the best way to avoid getting locked out of the game while it's downloading is to untick all your DLC before installing TSW6 base files. Start the game then Alt-Tab to Steam then start some curated downloads and you should be able to play while Steam works in the background. Work through progressively until all your required content is installed.

    At least that's how I hope it will work!
     
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  15. WelshTM

    WelshTM Well-Known Member

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    It's more time saving for me. It's not a huge issue as such, because I have 1.6Gbps down, but not everyone has those types of speeds.
     
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  16. jesper2805

    jesper2805 Well-Known Member

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    Correct! On steam there is an option to download and playing on the same time. That should be in TSW not be a problem the game download only pak files they are seperate from the game and will not create performance issues. What i do is i will choose 1 route download all the necessary things and play with the download in the background for the other DLCs
     
  17. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Yes, but that's an XBox emulator running as a "blue box;" within Windows; the Xbox structure and (inaccessible) file system remain.
     
  18. jesper2805

    jesper2805 Well-Known Member

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    No! I can acces XBOX PC Pass files. Its not what you described! Its the same like other games. I have COD and Indiana Jones installed and i can acces and modify those files. Or do you mean pre-load files? They are incryped yes but thats the same on consoles.
     
  19. SonicScott91

    SonicScott91 Well-Known Member

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    Actually you can do that on Steam. Sonic Racing Crossworlds early access started yesterday, my game preloaded a few days beforehand. The files were encrypted until Steam released the key to unlock it on the day of Early Access.

    I did ask Alex about this on the official Discord server and he said it wasn't something they were able to arrange this time around.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2025 at 10:55 PM
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  20. jesper2805

    jesper2805 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah as always "we are investigating it or we should look in to it" xD
     
  21. Double Yellow

    Double Yellow Well-Known Member

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    TSW6 and the 5 special edition routes all pre-downloaded for me this evening (PS5).
     
  22. Inkar

    Inkar Well-Known Member

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    As others said, it is usually possible to set up a pre-load in Steam. I have seen other games do it.
    But, TSW has some special circumstances that could make it more difficult or not possible, like a discount based on owning previous TSW games or entitlement for TSW 6 DLC based on what you own in previous versions of the game.
     
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