Unfortunately, Baldur’s Gate 3 fans won’t be able to pre-load the game ahead of its release on August 3. According to Larian Studios, this is due to a limitation on Steam’s side that prevents pre-loading for games in early access.

Larian Studios explained that enabling pre-loading for the full release would cause issues for players still in early access. As a result, early access players are also advised to delete saves and mods, and uninstall the game before downloading the full version. This means saying goodbye to characters they may have been playing with since the initial early access release in 2020. However, Larian promises that starting fresh with the full game will be worth it.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is not a small game, with a reported final package size of around 122GB. PC players can expect to download the game at the same time, with no early unlocks available. PS5 players will have to wait a little longer, as the release date for the console version has been delayed to September 6. There is still no confirmed release date for the Xbox version, as Larian is facing challenges in implementing split-screen co-op on the less powerful Xbox Series S.

For more information on Baldur’s Gate 3, check out our comprehensive guide to the game. Please note that GameSpot may receive a portion of the revenue from any purchases made through links on our site.