Usually does it automatically and about a week before release date…sometimes sooner
You have to kick it off by pressing “INSTALL” after you have made your purchase on the Windows Store. In my case, I bought Ultimate last night, pressed INSTALL, it downloaded some small files to my D: drive (place holder files I assume) and now the INSTALL button has changed to “Working…”
I don’t see a progress bar showing how many GB’s have been downloaded or the current download speed. It just stays at “Working…”
I assume once the pre-load goes live, it will change from “Working…” to “Installing…” and will show download progress & speed.
Your Xbox will download about 100MB as a placeholder. When the preload is released, your Xbox should download it automatically (assuming you have automatic updates enabled, of course). Past releases suggest it will become available for download a few days before launch.
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I wish they would just set an official date for when pre-load is going to be live. Avoid all the confusion/questions and anxiety. People say 2weeks before, some say 1week before, other says few days before. For customers with slow internet and also trying to plan days off work, its quite frustrating to not have a firm solid date in hand.
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Wont change anything…you will still be frustrated
You still have to wait and knowing when still wont make it happen any quicker
And then there will be those that complain when it doesnt start exactly at the time when it supposed to
With every other game i have preordered it’s been about a week before…but sometimes sooner
Disregard my critical post, Im gonna buy it all, ultimate edition + any additional offers.
Forza Horizon is now way ahead of the competetion, better graphics and many more cars than the crew 2 for instance.
Conclussion: Im totally hyped!
I received an email about my ultimate edition pre-order and it says “Any downloads you bought (except pre-orders) are available now.In general, digital pre-orders will be charged up to 10 days before release.” I’m guessing when a digital pre-order is charged that means the pre-load is live. So, if they are saying that the earliest date that FH4 will be officially launched is the 28th. ( Ultimate edition ) I think it’s safe to assume the pre-load won’t be live till the 18th if what I said is true.
Hey, I see some people posting that they are already downloading the game but me… i’m on xbox and I bought the ultimate edition but still only 100mb of download and I dont know how to download the full game like everyone… should I delete the game and try to reload it?
Nobody is downloading the full game and will not be able to until Sept. 28 at the earliest.
I hope that’s not true being on a 2.5mb down/1mb up internet connection. Living in the hills…5-6 days of constant downloading for FH4 LOL. Sometimes I feel like I’m living with dial up without the disconnects you’d get when someone calls the house phone.
Amazon followed through with their early dates and sent out codes for the Ultimate Edition which will allow us to start pre-load when available.
I had decided to wait for Amazon UK to drop it’s price by £10 so that it matched everyone else. They’ve done that so I just pre-ordered and immediately got the code.
I’m not pre-loading though. I remember a lot of people having issues with pre-loading FH3, which I didn’t do, and I had no issues. I’m going to play it safe and wait until early launch day. I’m patient. Sort of. 
When I try to install the game on the Microsoft store it has changed from “working…” to “starting download…” but within seconds has an error. Just blowing smoke here but hopefully that’s a sign of pre-load release soon.
The fact the game has gone gold should be a sure sign of pre-load soon really. I’d be very disappointed if we don’t see it within the coming week at least.
Just preordered the Ultimate Edition, so excited, my mates are jealous I can play 4 days early! First time pre-ordering a Forza so just to make sure the Car Pass isn’t a downloadable item it just says ‘Owned’ when you get it?
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I have the same thing with my car pass so yeah. It wouldn’t make sense to be able to download cars that are going to be released as weekly downloads.
yep pre ordered done, and its ultimate edition
I got the Ultimate edition, and as dumb as this question may sound, is the preload still there? There was some problems with leaks, and it says the game was downloaded when I started my computer, but I am confused as to why it took so short, and why I never saw it download. It would be nice if someone could answer my question.
[Mod Edit - thread merged - MM]
when does preloading start
No official announcement, but based on previous games it will likely be on the 25th.