Red Dead Redemption 2 preloading is live

Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to PC on November 5, which is—holy cow—now less than a week away. And for those who want to get their cowboy on the moment the clock strikes zero, preloading—for those who have pre-purchased—has now begun.

Preloading (and everything else) is done through the new Rockstar Games Launcher, which you can pick up here if you don't already have it. You'll also need, as listed in the system requirements, a whopping 150GB of free drive space to cram it into.

If you haven't already thrown your money at it, Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for pre-purchase at $60 for the special edition (which is an automatic "free upgrade" from the standard edition), or $80 for the Ultimate Edition, which includes bonus outfits, a Survivor Camp theme, additional weapons, and a nice horse. Details and links are up at rockstargames.com.

And now, let's take a minute to enjoy Kurt Russell telling Billy Bob Thornton to skin that smokewagon... and see what happens.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.