Home Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – How to preload and be ready to fight from the start

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – How to preload and be ready to fight from the start

It’s the annual ‘clear some space from your hard drive’ time as the new Call of Duty is incoming. Notorious for huge download sizes, each new CoD is a stressful event for players the world over as tough decisions need to be taken over what games to eradicate from your storage to fit the FPS behemoth on board and be ready ready to go from the sound of the first shots fired.

How big is Call of Duty Black Ops 6?

With Call of Duty Black Ops 6 initially rumored to take up to 300GB of install size this was quashed by the devs and we are looking at a file size of between 50-80GB if you don’t have Call of Duty HQ installed.

If you do have HQ installed the installation goes down to around 35GB – but obviously CoD HQ is pretty large too.

So once you have the required space freed up we can look at how to preload the game so we don’t have to wait for large downloads on Game Day, complete with the risk that servers don’t play nice at the beginning traditionally on big launches anyway.

How to preload Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Pre-loading for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is activated for those who have bought the game on the 21st of October at the times listed below depending on your format of choice.

For the first time, the new CoD is also coming to Xbox Game Pass on Day One, and there is already a pre-load option there which then tries to download MW3 and a file around 10GB for Black Ops 6. Feel free to try it.

  • PC: October 24th at 9 PM PT
  • PlayStation:: October 24th at 4 AM – 11 PM PT
  • Xbox / Microsoft Store: October 24th at 4 AM – 11 PM PT

Note, despite not needing CoD HQ to play the game, if you want to pre-install it you will need to download it to get Black Ops 6 downloaded in advance.

How to preload Black Ops 6

Depending on your system of choice you need to go into the appropriate launcher – on PC it will be either Battle.net or Steam. If it’s Steam you are using head to the DLCs and download all of the Black Ops 6 content.

On Battle.net simply go to the Call of Duty section and modify your install to bring down all the new stuff in advance.

On Xbox, you need to Manage Game and Add-ons which is found when you press start on Call of Duty HQ on your home tab.

It’s the same for PlayStation, except this time the option merely states Manage Game Content. Then just select Black Ops 6 and you will be good to go on launch day leaving all those non preloaded noobs in a download queue while you rack up the levels like a pro.

More Black Ops 6 pages you may like

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech, gambling and blockchain industries for major developments, new product and brand launches, AI breakthroughs, game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to in-house staff writers with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Paul McNally
Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine,…

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.