Starfield is now available to preload on Steam, and it's a hefty 116GB download. If you've preordered ahead of the RPG's semi-official September 1 release, and the option to preload isn't showing, just reboot the Steam app.

Preloading has been available on PC Game Pass for a while, so if you're a subscriber and playing it there, you're likewise able to install it right now. It's a massive download, so I recommend you do.

The global Starfield release times vary depending on how much you pay for Bethesda's new outing. If you buy the Premium Edition [[link]] you gain access as early as August 31; if you're slumming it with the standard edition, or playing it on PC Game Pass, it'll launch as early as September 5. 

I'm getting the sense that Microsoft wants to make a bit of cash with Starfield. That Premium Edition incentive is going to cause [[link]] a lot of FOMO and a lot of impulse purchases over the coming days. Not only that, but the $1 PC Game Pass trial has rather conveniently disappeared in the days ahead of Starfield's release. I guess it's fair enough: Microsoft's first-party offerings haven't been that great for years, and Starfield needs to count.