The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is now available to preload on Nintendo Switch. The file size is about 16.2GB (down 2GB from earlier listings), so it shouldn’t take too too long to get the game installed and ready to go, depending on how zippy your internet connection is.

While you can install a digital copy of Tears of the Kingdom right now, you can’t start playing, of course, until the game officially releases. That happens on Thursday, May 11, starting at 9 PM PT, or 12 AM ET on May 12.

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Now Playing: Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Preview

Tears of the Kingdom’s preloading began earlier today in different parts of the world, according to social media reports. GameSpot can also confirm that preloading has begun ahead of launch. Nintendo’s own website said preloading should begin about 7 days prior to launch, so fans had been counting down to today, May 5, for when they could preload.

Tears of the Kingdom is Nintendo’s most-anticipated game of 2023 and will no doubt become one of the year’s best-selling games across platforms. Its predecessor, 2017’s Breath of the Wild, was a critical and commercial success, winning rave reviews and selling 29 million copies.

Preorders for Tears of the Kingdom are available, with standard editions costing $70. It’s the first Nintendo-published game on Switch to cost $10 more than what consumers previously understood to be the “standard” price for a Switch game. A $130 Collector’s Edition is also available.

Tears of the Kingdom is part of Nintendo’s Game Voucher program, and that could help you save a little money. For more, find out how the Game Voucher system works.

In GameSpot’s Tears of the Kingdom preview, Steve Watts said, “…while Nintendo is still maintaining the mystery around much of the game, our extensive hands-on with the new tools showed an incredible amount of creative problem-solving and thrilling traversal in this ambitious sequel.”

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Nintendo Switch