The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom isn’t out for another week, but it’s now officially available for preloading. As of today, Nintendo Switch users who preordered Tears of the Kingdom digitally can now preload the game a week early as expected.
Of course, it still won’t be playable until the game officially unlocks, but preloading it now might help you jump back into the world of Hyrule a little bit earlier — as GameSpot pointed out, the file is 16.2GB.
Some fans have reported difficulty with getting the preload to begin, but it appears there’s a simple solution. According to Twitter user @PhantomxKairi, canceling the preorder and preordering again should prompt the preload to begin correctly.
My digital version of Tears of the Kingdom is now preloading on my Switch! For those who don’t see the preload yet (I used a NSO game voucher) cancel the preorder and preorder again, download will pop up! Can’t wait for May 12th <3 #Zelda #ZeldaTearsoftheKingdom #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/gkAysxpXo0
— Lil Miss Trish (@PhantomxKairi) May 5, 2023
Tears of the Kingdom will officially release (and become playable for fans who preloaded) at 9 pm PT on May 11 (or 12 am ET on May 12).
We previewed Tears of the Kingdom last week, and from what we saw, it’s filled with changes and improvements to everything from cooking to Breath of the Wild’s controversial weapon durability system.
However, there’s still quite a lot that we won’t know about Tears of the Kingdom until May 12, including Ganondorf’s true role in the game’s story and what might replace the Divine Beast dungeons.
Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.