Hi there,

How does the pre-loading work. If GOG doesn't require an activation or internet connection. If I pre-load the game, wouldn't there be some sort of activation to stop you from playing the game before it's released?

Lots of answers to this if you look.

It's typical to just hold back the .exe until launch time and push it out to users then. Can't run a program without the executable.

Can't say if this is CDPRs method, but it's typical.