Game preloading has been enabled by EA in order to ensure that all players have Battlefield 2042 downloaded and ready to play by the time Early Access begins on November 12. 

Players of the Xbox One and the Series X/S can currently enjoy this preload, players of the PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 will have to wait until Wednesday. Despite the fact that Xbox players can now download the game, this preference does not provide any advantages when it comes to starting to play, as everyone must wait until November 12 to play Battlefield 2042 if they have early access, or until November 19 if they purchased the standard version of the game, to do so.

Whichever platform gamers choose to play Battlefield 2042 on, there is little doubt that they will have plenty of time to download the game and begin playing Portal mode and the rest of the title's news on the day it is released.

• Pre-load: November 6 for Xbox and November 10 for PC and PS4 / PS5.
• Early Access: November 12 for pre-purchases of Gold and Ultimate editions and subscribers of EA Play, EA Play Pro, or Game Pass Ultimate (both on PC and consoles).
• Official launch: November 19