Total War: Warhammer 3 – The Pre-Load Starts Tuesday The 15th

At 120ish gigs, Total War: Warhammer 3 is a chonky game. So you’ll want to start pre-loading as early as possible. How about Tuesday?

Oh the day is almost upon us. In just a short week and change, Total War: Warhammr 3 will be released into the wild for everyone to play with. Commanders the Old World over will be able to decide the fates of Kislev, Grand Cathay, and Daniel Chaosman as they wade into the boldest and biggest entry into the Total War series yet. With campaigns for 7 different starting factions, campaign multiplayer for up to eight people, and realm-wide Chaos incursions, this game has it all. In fact, it has so much you might want to start pre-loading the game a week early.

Because Total War: Warhammer 3 weighs in at more than 100 gigs of hard drive space. Which even on a fast connection is still a long time to download anything. And if Steam’s track records with lots of people trying to download the same thing holds up, you’ll be glad you started early.

In fact, you can start Tuesday. Per an announcement from Creative Assembly, Total War: Warhammer 3’s pre-load starts a week early. The Warhammer 3 pre-load starts February 15th on the Microsoft Store, PC Game Pass, and Steam.

Here’s a handy how-to for each option, courtesy of Creative Assembly.

Microsoft & PC Game Pass

For Windows Store users:

1. Open the Microsoft Store by pressing the Windows key and searching for ‘Store.’
2. In the search box at the top of the window, search for Total War: WARHAMMER III.
3. Click the Install button to begin downloading the game files.

For Game Pass players:

1. Open the Xbox App by pressing the Windows key and searching for the ‘Xbox Console Companion.’
2. Search for Total War: WARHAMMER III.
3. Click the Pre-Install button.
4. Select the drive where you’d like to install the game and click Install.

For any problems with pre-loading, there are a few things you can check:

• Make sure you’re running on the latest version of Windows 10/11 and have installed all critical updates. To update: Click the Windows key and search for Settings. Select Windows Update and then click the Check for updates button.
• If you don’t see the game in My games and apps, search for the game in the Microsoft Store, select Total War: WARHAMMER III, and click Install to begin the installation.
• If you don’t see the install option and only a purchase option, don’t select it, as you may be charged twice. Please visit the Payment and Billing page of your Microsoft account to view the game. If the game is listed as successfully purchased, please contact Microsoft Support for additional assistance.

Steam

For players who have pre-purchased the game on the Steam store:

1. Open your Steam client.
2. Find Total War: WARHAMMER III in your library.
3. Click the INSTALL button.

Steam will begin the pre-load the game, which you can follow in the ‘DOWNLOADS’ area.

If you encounter any problems starting the download, try fully exiting and restarting Steam to see if that helps.  If you unable to begin the download after several hours, please contact Steam support for assistance.

Epic Store

Unfortunately, we cannot offer preload on the Epic store for Total War: WARHAMMER III.

Now to decide which games to delete to make room for this beast

Author: J.R. Zambrano

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]