Question concerning Steam preorders

I'm on the fence about preordering Shogun 2 because it appears there will be no opportunity to preload the game prior to release. Currently, the game is set to release in 18 hours and 59 minutes, so that will be 9 AM tomorrow EST. Regrettably, I will be at work at this time.

I was wondering, if I preorder a game and leave Steam open, does the game begin downloading immediately the second it's available, or do I have to do that manually such as refresh the page or reload Steam?

Having it waiting for me when I come home would certainly be a treat.

Actually, I was wrong or they changed it, it now says 11:59pm PST. They aren't doing it right because Homefront says it's due to unlock a few hours ago.guynamedbilly

Your talking about steam, homeront unlocks at midnight, and d2d is being stupid and not giving out codes till 1pm est.

I am preloading Shogun2 on steam right now, says 1 hour and 5mins left (:

Check steam again :P

@OP, this depends on the game.

Some games allow Steam pre-loads (so you start downloading when you purchase), some don't (so you can only download on release day).

It varies per game and it's up to the publisher to allow it.

I bought the game's phsyical copy. Since it uses Steamworks, i'll have the advntage of steam redownloads, but it'll likely be a little faster for me to install via discs.