14 DAY TRIAL // Platform holder Microsoft announces that it will offer a pre-order and a pre-load option for the upcoming Destiny release from developer Bungie and publisher Activision before the worldwide launch date of September 9.
The information was first featured on an official store page on the site of the company, but that has since been pulled down, although it seems that a small number of users of the Xbox One were able to take advantage of it while it was active.
The Destiny listing says that gamers will be able to get the entire title on their hard drive and will get an unlock command on September 9 at 12:01 AM Pacific Daylight Time and 03:01 AM Eastern Time.
Microsoft has issued an official statement to Polygon in which it explains that “We're thrilled to make Destiny available for pre-order and pre-download for Xbox One owners around the world. This option was available for a short period of time before the official pre-order window opened. We'll have more details to share soon about the pre-order and pre-download window for Destiny.”
The pre-load period for the video game will probably start with less than one week to go before launch, and it is at the moment unclear how big the game is on the Xbox One, which means that gamers cannot clear their hard drive, as they are expecting an official announcement.
Activision and Bungie have not reached to the leaked page in any way.
During the Gamescome 2014 event, Microsoft announced that pre-loading for a select number of games would be enabled in September and would start with FIFA 15, from EA Sports, and Forza Horizon 2.
But it seems that the implementation of the feature has been faster than initially expected, as it was active in time for the launch of Madden NFL 15, which has been available in North America since August 29 and will be offered in Europe tomorrow.
Destiny will also be launched on the PlayStation 4 and the PS3 from Sony on September 9, and the company has confirmed that pre-loading will be offered since the spring of this year.
Gamers who get the title on the two platforms will be able to also enjoy a lot of special content, including vehicles, weapons and armor, which will not be offered on the Xbox One and the 360 for about one year.
Bungie has said that Destiny will get The Dark Below DLC before the end of the year.