If all the game’s files are downloaded and installed, how are users restricted from launching the game? I want to play Starfield NOW!
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Games files are mostly not code. By far, the large majority of a games install space is audio files and texture packs. All of that can be downloaded very easily, potentially with a little extra protection to keep people from looking at it too early.
The actual game executable is peanuts in comparison, so it can either be fully encrypted and awaiting a decryption key to easily decrypt at launch time, or just straight up be missing major components until launch time.
In any scenario, you can’t just disconnect your internet and turn the time forward on your PC. You’re waiting not for a specific time, but for the game company to put some specific piece of data online for what you have preinstalled on your computer to actually become useful information.
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