Maybe if access to Episode 2 features is somewhat staggered? Like, for the first week or so only a certain number of people could buy Episode 2 per day (500? 1000? I’m not sure what would be reasonable) with those that pre-ordered getting first dibs.

It would kinda suck for some people during that one week, but after that things would be fine, and Episode 2 has been waited for long enough that it would be a shame to have a laggy, hard-to-play release. The only problem is that many people are anxious to get the Episode 2’s equivalent of First To the Finish Line, and anyone who doesn’t start playing on the day of the release is at a serious disadvantage for it… but those people could be encouraged to simply pre-order, if it is something important to them.