Skip to main content

PlayStation Store pre-orders now support pre-loading on PS3 and PS4

Sony announced that pre-ordered games for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 will now automatically pre-load ahead of time, allowing you to boot up and play right at moment they launch rather than waiting for a lengthy download. The first game to take advantage of the feature is 
Recommended Videos
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, which launches on June 24.

Otherwise all titles made available for pre-order on the PlayStation Store on or after May 20, 2014 support pre-loadeding. You don’t even have to do anything–as long as the console is in standby mode, any qualifying pre-ordered games automatically downloads. There is even a countdown timer for each title to let you know exactly how long you have until you can start playing.

Here’s the current list of games with pre-load enabled:

  • Battlefield: Hardline
  • Bloodborne
  • Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  • Destiny
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition
  • Far Cry 4
  • InFAMOUS First Light
  • Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 
  • LittleBigPlanet 3
  • Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
  • The Order: 1886
  • Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Pre-loading has long been available for many PC titles (such as Blizzard’s), and Sony promised it as a PlayStation 4 feature back when the console was announced. You can keep tabs on the games becoming available for pre-order with Sony’s weekly PlayStation Store Updates.

Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
All cross-platform games (PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
Two squads of heroes clash in an Overwatch 2 trailer.

Cross-platform support is becoming more important in the world of video games. Multiplayer hits like Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Fortnite have pushed crossplay into the limelight, and now most AAA multiplayer games release with at least partial cross-platform support. Finding every cross-platform game is no easy feat, though, so we did the hard work to bring you a comprehensive list of games that support crossplay.

Unfortunately, there aren't any rules when it comes to crossplay, so each game handles the feature a little differently. To make matters more confusing, certain backward-compatible games on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X still support crossplay on the most recent hardware, even if there isn't an official release for that hardware.

Read more
After Freedom Wars, this PlayStation Vita classic deserves a remaster
Soul Sacrifice Delta's key art.

If there’s one thing that the PlayStation Vita delivered, it was great Monster Hunter clones after Capcom’s hit series jumped ship from PSP to Nintendo 3DS. The list included games like Koei Tecmo’s Toukiden, Bandai Namco’s God Eater, and Gungho’s Ragnarok Odyssey Ace. While these mission-based games were perfect fit for the Vita’s pick-up-and-play lifestyle, they were also available on PS3.

Sony Japan even joined into the fray with the 2015 Vita exclusive Freedom Wars, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a remaster on modern platforms next January, courtesy of Bandai Namco. On the heels of that surprise announcement, there’s one other hunting action game that needs to break free from the Vita’s shackles: Soul Sacrifice Delta. It's an enhanced version of 2013's Soul Sacrifice that added more content and gameplay adjustments.
Grimdark Archfiend hunter
Soul Sacrifice Delta was released in 2014 and designed by Keiji Inafune (yes, the auteur behind the infamous Mighty No. 9). It plays like how you’d expect from a Monster Hunter-like action game. You can hunt down your main target and hit its weak points to gather materials and create stronger weapons. It’s an engaging gameplay loop that makes sure you’re always prepared to fight increasingly stronger monsters.

Read more
PlayStation has quietly doubled the price of Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4
Aloy aiming an arrow into the wilderness at a robot.

Following the announcement of Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered for the PlayStation 5 and PC, PlayStation has raised the price of the original game's PlayStation 4 Complete Edition by $20 on the PlayStation Store.

As that edition of the game had been retailing for $20 for a couple of years now, that means PlayStation has doubled the price without warning.

Read more