Xbox Game Pass Now Allows Subscribers to Pre-Load Games

Xbox Game Pass has gotten a new feature subscribers have been asking for with games now able to be pre-loaded before they go live through the service.

Xbox's corporate vice president Mike Ybarra took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the pre-load feature had been added to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Saying that the feature would start with Crackdown 3 on Xbox and Windows, Ybarra said anyone who's an Xbox Game Pass member can now pre-load Crackdown 3 via the service.

One of the biggest asks we’ve had for @XboxGamePass was to allow pre-load (pre-install) so you can download and be ready the second launch happens. It’s available now - and starts with Crackdown 3 on Xbox and Windows. 💪👍👌👊

— 🎄Mike Ybarra☃️ (@XboxQwik) November 13, 2018

Crackdown 3 isn't out yet and won't be available for a few more months, so those who pre-load it will have to wait until February 15, 2019, to play the game in full, though times and dates may differ depending on players' regions. The release date for Crackdown 3 was confirmed days ago during Xbox's X018 event where a new trailer for the game that's shown above revealed the long-awaited release date.

While Crackdown 3 is one of the headlining games that's available to pre-load now through the Xbox Game Pass service, Ybarra said the pre-load feature would apply to other games as well now that it's live. A user asked about a different game which comes out in December and Ybarra responded to say that it too can be pre-loaded now that the feature is live.

Yeah, it will work.

— 🎄Mike Ybarra☃️ (@XboxQwik) November 13, 2018

The feature is the same one that purchasers of digital games have had at their disposal for a while now since they're able to get a head start on physical game buyers and pre-load the titles, though there's always the chance they'll still have to sit through a lengthy day-one update to fully play the game anyway. Pre-loading a game that won't come out for several months through Xbox Game Pass also means that you have to keep your subscription up and running until the game is fully out since an active subscription is required to play the downloaded games. Pre-loading Crackdown 3 and other to-be-released games now will only take up space on your console if you don't plan on having an Xbox Game Pass subscription when their release dates come around.

Crackdown 3 is scheduled to release on February 15th, but it and other future Xbox Game Pass games can be pre-loaded now.