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[Spyxos]

It's remarkable how often the size of a download influences whether or not I'll play a game at all. I've had the intention of trying Atomic Heart on Game Pass since February. Three times I've started the 90GB download, and three times I've cancelled it and done something else instead. I can't remember ever doing that just 10 years ago. Even though my internet connection was probably half as fast at the time, the average high-profile game was 5-10 times smaller.

So of course we want to keep a game installed for as long as possible. Deleting a massive game is tantamount to throwing the box in a bigger box, taping it shut eight different ways, and sealing it in the attic—sure, it's there if you want to play it again, but will you? Ballooning file sizes, the prevalence of ever-expanding free-to-play games, and stagnating download speeds are making this annoyance more noticeable. And if the first half of 2023 has been any indication, downloads aren't shrinking anytime soon.

2023 is already straining our SSDs​

• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - 130GB
• Forspoken - 120GB
• Redfall - 100GB
• The Last of Us Part 1 - 100GB
• Atomic Heart - 90GB
• Diablo 4 - 90GB
• Wild Hearts - 80GB
• Hogwarts Legacy - 73GB
• RE4 Remake - 56GB
• Dead Island 2 - 45GB

Wowza. It's safe to say we're firmly in an era of 100GB games, right? It used to be headline news when a game reached triple digits, but in 2023, six of the ten biggest PC games of the year so far clock in at 90-130GB. It's probably no coincidence that of those six, all but one are huge sandbox games. With those numbers, the days of just firing up a game "on a whim" are basically over. According to Steam, the average American downloads games at around 12MB per second. That's over a 3-hour download for current 2023 size champ Star Wars Jedi: Survivor(opens in new tab), a definite "whim" killer, and the folks on the lower end of that average have it much worse.

That's not to mention the folks out there with data caps. My Windows data usage report says I've used 255GB on Steam alone this month. If you also stream hours of TV and movies every week or, even worse, watch friends stream their games on Discord(opens in new tab), the gigs can add up real fast.


The good news: Multiplayer games aren't growing (right now)

There are still a few popular shooters that are uncomfortably big, like Destiny 2, CoD, and Rainbow Six, but it's encouraging that they've actually all been bigger in the past and shrunk:

• Destiny 2 - 105GB
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 + Warzone 2 - 98GB
• Final Fantasy 14 - 80GB
• Rainbow Six Siege - 80GB
• Battlefield 2042 - 75GB
• Apex Legends - 60GB
• Dota 2 - 46GB
• Hunt: Showdown - 45GB
• Halo Infinite - 45GB
• PUBG - 32.5GB
• Valorant - 32GB
• Fortnite - 32GB
• CS:GO - 30GB
• League of Legends - 22GB

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-era-of-100gb-games-is-upon-us-and-the-average-pc-gamer-is-underprepared/

 

[tusharngf]

I have 4tb normal HDD and 2tb SSD i think i am ready for next gen.

 

[rofif]

PC: 500gb nvme for windows drive, 1tb nvme for games alone.
ps5:added 2tb m.2 wdsn850x. I am ready.

 

[Spyxos]

I have 4tb normal HDD and 2tb SSD i think i am ready for next gen.

I have 2 tb SSDs/nvme, 2tb HDD and they are always full.

 

[Zathalus]

The average PC gamer has over 1TB of capacity, so not sure how that means PC gamers are unprepared.

 

[Sentenza]

I have 4 TB in two NVMe, 4 TB of SATA SSD and other four in an old mechanical hard disk properly named "the storage junk bin".
That plus a 1 GB/s optic fiber, which is more or less the standard around here (and I could pay few more bucks to turn it into a 2,5GB/s now, apparently, but it's a bit overkill for how I use it currently).

I'm fucking ready, I tell you.

 

[Xyphie]

DRAM-less TLC NAND SSDs are like ~$50/TB now, QLC even cheaper than that. Just fill those M.2 slots and SATA ports.

 

[feynoob]

This is why Nvidia GeForce is going to be important as times goes on.

Not having to download the game and starting it immediately is a blessing in disguise.

 

[demented waffle]

Meh, got a 2 tb nvme gen 4 drive with enough lanes for another 4 or gen 5.

Plus sata drives if desperate enough.

 

[DenchDeckard]

1tb firecuda 530 system drive
2 x 2 tb wd Black sn850x for game drives...I'm good

 

[Spyxos]

This is why Nvidia GeForce is going to be important as times goes on.

Not having to download the game and starting it immediately is a blessing in disguise.

You mean Geforce Now?

 

[Grildon Tundy]

"Gamers are Unprepared" says title meant to manipulate gamers into explaining how prepared they are

 

[Skifi28]

This is why Nvidia GeForce is going to be important as times goes on.

Not having to download the game and starting it immediately is a blessing in disguise.

If your connection is good enough for streaming in high resolutions and framerates without issues, then it's good enough to download huge files in very little time.

 

[Fermbiz]

2tb nvme, 1tb nvme, 2tb ssd. I have plenty room for more drives. I think i'll be okay.

 

[LazyParrot]

The average PC gamer just plays League or Valorant and has probably never heard of half of these games.

 

[feynoob]

You mean Geforce Now?

Yeah.

 

[feynoob]

If your connection is good enough for streaming in high resolutions and framerates without issues, then it's good enough to download huge files in very little time.

The key is multiple games.
You can tolerate 1-2 games. But when you have a lot of games at that rate, it's gets annoying. You have to install and uninstall again. It's too much time consuming.

 

[SeraphJan]

 

[Guilty_AI]

Serious question. Is it normal for the average player here to keep swapping games at the drop of a hat?

 

[T4keD0wN]

the average American downloads games at around 12MB per second. That's over a 3-hour download for current 2023 size champ Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Why are they pretending like a 3h download for the largest game is is bad? If i had such fast download speeds i wouldnt worry about download sizes one bit. Instead, here i am overprepared with 16TB HDD space and 2tb +2x1tb in ssd space because the fastest internet in my street tops out at 4MB while my friend living in the very next street has 200MB and pays half.

 

[Puscifer]

You can get a 1TB SSD for not a bad price these days, it's 2012 HDD prices when you could get 1TB for 60-70 bucks, just hop on the wagon already!

 

[Honey Bunny]

Pc gaming just seems unprepared for this console gen in general tbh. Unless youve already spent 2k on your rig in the past few years.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Pc gaming just seems unprepared for this console gen in general tbh. Unless youve already spent 2k on your rig in the past few years.

 

[Puscifer]

Serious question. Is it normal for the average player here to keep swapping games at the drop of a hat?

This reminds of people in the 360/PS3 era complaining they don't have enough room for demos. As if you need to play it more than a couple times

 

[Darchaos]

I just buy storage as i need it and i also have ok internet, 500/500. Disposable income baby, its nice

 

[Lasha]

The type of person who buys 10 new releases not even halfway into 2023 is the type to have no issues with storage.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I have two PCIE 4.0 1TB NVME drives just for games. I’m good to go.

Also and more to the point I guess. Doesn’t anybody delete their games from their storage once they’re done with them? I put about 20 hours into RE4 but won’t just keep it on there, I’ll delete it and download something else. Surely that’s the normal thing to do right?

 

[BennyBlanco]

I have 2x 2tb NVMEs and it still doesn’t feel like enough

 

[nush]

The era of devs no longer giving a shit about optimization would be a more accurate representation.

 

[hinch7]

SSD's are fairly affordable these days. Just buy as big as you can get. Its just if you have enough slots and good enough i/o on your motherboard.

I have 4TB of fast SSD storage dedicated to games which will last me until my next upgrade cycle. And can always add another 2.5" SSD if need be.

 

[MarkyG]

 

[GreatnessRD]

Just waiting for Prime day to see if the Crucial P3 Plus 4TB dives down even further. I currently have 2.5 TB of space, but I'm gonna move one of the SSDs to a living room build. But I'm more than prepare for whatever the Peasantstation 5 throws at me!*




*Relax, warriors. Peasantstation 5 was a joke.

 

[Black_Stride]

Arent 1TB M.2s currently cheaper than actually buying a single one these 100GB+ games anyway?



Not that im defending the increased game sizes but SSD prices have plummeted so much SSD storage they are comparable to "cheap" mechanical keyboards......thats so wild to me.
No, im not rich enough to throw away 50 dollars but I dont really cry about 50 dollars for a 1TB PCIE Gen 4.
2TB PCIE Gen4 for 100 bucks is a hell of a good deal too, especially if you are using it purely as a game drive.

 

[StereoVsn]

Arent 1TB M.2s currently cheaper than actually buying a single one these 100GB+ games anyway?



Not that im defending the increased game sizes but SSD prices have plummeted so much SSD storage they are comparable to "cheap" mechanical keyboards......thats so wild to me.
No, im not rich enough to throw away 50 dollars but I dont really cry about 50 dollars for a 1TB PCIE Gen 4.
2TB PCIE Gen4 for 100 bucks is a hell of a good deal too, especially if you are using it purely as a game drive.

P3 Plus is an excellent value for money. You can get even a 4TB for $220 or so. Now, is it a fastest NVME drive out there? Absolutely not.

However, does it matter in anything except perhaps for Forsaken (lol) and maybe a few more games over next couple years? Also Absolutely Not. And even there difference won't be large.

 

[Braag]

Also Mortal Kombat 11 is 160GB lol

I have 1x 2TB and 2x 1TB Samsung NVME as well as 1x 2TB Samsung Sata SSD.
So I'm good. SSD drives are surprisingly cheap these days.

 

[HTK]

I normally always have a handful of games installed so I never have space issues.

Downloading games has been so fast that I’m not too concerned about it.

 

[Utherellus]

- Buy dirty cheap Nvmes on Amazon.

- Use compression when possible. There is no reason why PCs shouldn't mimic consoles' perks.

GitHub - IridiumIO/CompactGUI: Transparently compress active games and programs using Windows 10/11 APIs

Transparently compress active games and programs using Windows 10/11 APIs - IridiumIO/CompactGUI

github.com

 

[SantaC]

Title couldnt be more false. PC gamers has had large disks for gaming for many years already.

 

[Luipadre]

I have a 2gbit internet and i dont play 20 games at once. I will be fine

 

[Shifty1897]

This article might as well be called "Everyone is playing Zelda and there's nothing for us to write about."
Fast, large, SSD's are more available than ever. It's very inexpensive for a PC Gamer (who, by existence, is no stranger to paying a premium on hardware) to upgrade storage.

 

[JimboJones]

Nvme drives are getting cheaper all the time and you can get some huge hdd for cold storage if you want to go that route, not sure how PC gamers aren't prepared.

 

[IFireflyl]

3 x 2TB NVME SSD (Samsung 990 Pro)
1 x 4TB SATA SSD (Samsung 860 Pro)
8 x 10TB HDD (7200 RPM IronWolf Pro)

 

[Agent_4Seven]

There is no reason why PCs shouldn't mimic consoles' perks.

Yup, there's no reason, but PC can't mimic consoles, PC can only try to overcome and match better designed console architecture (not the raw power which consoles objectively don't have) with overlkill and overpriced components. Sadly, it become even more evident over the last year or so and it's not just bad PC ports, it's that games were originally designed for much better architecture for games which PC hardware simply don't have cuz of it's core design and how it actually works in comparison to consoles. The ammount of various configurations also doesn't help but that's not the only and not the main reason.

We'll get lucky if even 20% of game will be using Direct Storage or will have benefits from Resizable BAR, but I don't think that devs will care how big their games will be on PC, especially considering somewhat affordable 2TB SSDs right now - SSD with more capacity will get cheaper with time too so it'll be even less of a problem in the future. At this point in time, the sizes of games are somewhere at the very bottom of any PC gamer's concerns and issues when it comes to PC ports, cuz there's far and far worse problems with them than free space requirements which you can easily fix and you don't have to pay insane amounts of money to do it.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

But but but... The SSD Of PS5 is enough.



Fuck COD for all this.

 

[ahtlas7]

I’ll survive. I don’t need to spend more on overpriced pc parts, PC Gamer.

 

[YCoCg]

1TB SSD's have come down a lot in price in recent weeks, hell you can get a 1TB SATA SSD for like £35 here, sure it's not NVME speeds but plenty of games should be fine with it, it's not like Direct Storage is huge at the moment with all ONE game that uses it.

 

[Utherellus]

Yup, there's no reason, but PC can't mimic consoles, PC can only try to overcome and match better designed console architecture (not the raw power which consoles objectively don't have) with overlkill and overpriced components. Sadly, it become even more evident over the last year or so and it's not just bad PC ports, it's that games were originally designed for much better architecture for games which PC hardware simply don't have cuz of it's core design and how it actually works in comparison to consoles. The ammount of various configurations also doesn't help but that's not the only and not the main reason.

We'll get lucky if even 20% of game will be using Direct Storage or will have benefits from Resizable BAR, but I don't think that devs will care how big their games will be on PC, especially considering somewhat affordable 2TB SSDs right now - SSD with more capacity will get cheaper with time too so it'll be even less of a problem in the future. At this point in time, the sizes of games are somewhere at the very bottom of any PC gamer's concerns and issues when it comes to PC ports, cuz there's far and far worse problems with them than free space requirements which you can easily fix and you don't have to pay insane amounts of money to do it.

I meant the situation with game sizes. Performance is another topic.

PCs do have the ability to mimic consoles by compressing games with lightweight algorithms.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Oh fuck off PCGamer. Is anyone giving that site the time of day? They’re trash.

How can I continue on without having 10+ games bloating my SSD at the same time because I can’t finish them and my backlog is growing? Delete them?

Spoiler

Off to 4TB NAS it goes, I decide to come back to game? Transfer from NAS (which steam detects as a disk) to SSD

 

[Agent_4Seven]

I meant the situation with game sizes. Performance is another topic.

If you'll read my post more carefully, you'll see that also mentioned game sizes and why it's not a big problem and far from being the biggest one overall when it comes to PC ports

PCs do have the ability to mimic consoles by compressing games with lightweight algorithms.

I'm not saying it is not, I'm saying that devs (or much rather porting studios) don't care about all this, their biggest problems right now is overcoming PC architecture limitations to at least try and match console architecture. I mean, who really cares that much about how big the game is on PC if it's just terrible and broken PC port? That's not the first thing I care about personally, plus and yet again - PC storage is so cheap and affordable right now that it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things how big the game is in size on PC.

If... say, PC storage was overpriced af like Xbox storage expansion for the amount of TBs it offers, then we can start talking about problems, but it's just no the case when it comes to PC storage. I guess what I'm trying to say that even if there is a solution to make PC games smaller in size with little to no performance loss, it is still a very niche and not even all that important feature to have right now - performance and quality of PC ports comes first imho.

 

[CuNi]

I know I'm somewhat of an overkill.
500GB NVMe for Windows.
20TB HDD for all games to update once a month
4TB SSD for the games I actually play.
1TB NVMe for the huge games with lots of loading screens like wow.

I take out the 20TB HDD and only put it back when I'm done with a game or want to play something not on the SSD. I then delete the game on the SSD and copy over the game I want to play from the HDD to the SSD or NVMe and update it.