As an avid gamer with over 20 years experience across PC and consoles, I‘ve watched with dismay as game install sizes have ballooned from a few gigabytes to upwards of 200GB+ in some cases. Modern blockbusters like Call of Duty: Warzone and Red Dead Redemption 2 breach the 100GB+ mark with their high-resolution textures, uncompressed audio, support for multiple languages and accumulated technical debt across numerous patches. This bloating imposes real costs by restricting access for gamers around the world and tying up precious bandwidth and storage.
In this article, we‘ll dive deep into the key factors driving install size creep, quantify their impact, and explore optimization approaches that balance visual fidelity with accessibility.
Texture Packs Multiplied Game Sizes By 4X
Higher resolution texture packs directly correlate with fatter game installs. As visual benchmarks increased from 1024×1024 (1K) textures to 2048×2048 (2K) and even 4096×4096 (4K), install sizes increased proportionally. Let‘s see how texture sizes expanded over game generations:
| Texture Size | Relative Size | Example Games |
| 1024 x 1024 (1K) | Baseline | Doom 3 (2004) |
| 2048 x 2048 (2K) | 4X larger | Crysis (2007) |
| 4096 x 4096 (4K) | 16X larger | Star Wars Battlefront (2015) |
So a 4K texture is 16X larger than an old 1K texture! Many modern games ship with 4K texture packs leading to install sprawl. For example, Monster Hunter World with 4K textures installed takes up ~70GB instead of 18GB at launch with 2K.
However, the returns from ultra details diminish as texture size increases while installs balloon. Offering options can give flexibility. Monster Hunter World did this excellently by making 4K textures an optional add-on pack instead of mandatory for all.
Monster Hunter World provides flexibility on texture packs (Image credit: Nvidia)
Uncompressed Audio Drove 49% Bloat in Medal of Honor
Another major space hog is uncompressed audio. Medal of Honor in 2010 weighed in at 12GB with compressed audio but ballooned to 18GB in Warfighter just 2 years later after switching to uncompress audio. That‘s an incredible 49% bloat for largely dubious gains!
While compression algorithms introduce small tradeoffs in quality and decoding costs for better ratio, hardware and media formats have also evolved since to easily handle lossless formats. There are diminishing returns from unlimited streams once fidelity crosses certain thresholds tuned to human perception. So leaving audio uncompressed by default makes little sense now considering downstream impacts. The solution lies in offering user options and smart compression presets optimized for different platforms rather than one-size-fits-all unwieldy audio assets steaming in at maximum bitrate.
Supporting N Languages Scales Installs by N
Another unnecessary multiplier, especially for languages with major local publishers, is bundling in every translation by default. Printing a 50 page English book already takes 50 pages. There‘s little marginal cost per unit to print localized Italian and Spanish versions separately as the translations are already done. Yet games typically enforce audio and text translations for all supported languages driving up sizes multiplicatively.
Allowing users to select languages avoids wasting bandwidth on unused translations
So supporting N languages can theoretically N-X scale install sizes if all localizations ship in one package! Since many players will realistically use only 1 or 2 languages, shipping everything by default means wasting their bandwidth, storage, and even production costs of including additional language packs.
Instead games should offer flexibility for players to select languages of choice as part of initial install and downloads. Localized physical copies can always bundle regionally relevant languages without worrying about wasted space globally. This helps future proof games to scale more languages without bloating installs arbitrarily.
Real World Impacts: Data Caps, Delayed Access, Lost Sales
Expanding install sizes limit gaming accessibility in markets with data caps, slow/metered internet speeds and for budget conscious buyers. Physical media mitigates downloads but means higher retail pricing to compensate for greater logistics costs. Either way the end user pays the hidden tax.
In one survey 28% respondents selected not buying a game primarily due to its large file size. And that was in 2010 when games were generally under 20GB! Imagine the multiplier effect today with multiple 100GB+ installs vying for finite bandwidth and storage space. Convert a portion of that churned audience into retained players through smarter engineering strategies around optimize install sizes.
Holistic Solutions to Reign Sizes
Offering modular install options puts control in players‘ hands to balance visual fidelity with install footprint per their needs. While fans with cutting edge hardware will maximize settings and languages, mainstream users are happy with mid range textures in native language as long as the end experience remains gratifying. Rather than penalizing everybody with uniformly maximum install sizes, empower users to choose the right balances customized to their systems.
Here are some optimization techniques that can control sprawl:
Stream Installs: Download only critical launch components initially before asynchronously pulling down languages, textures etc in background or on demand
Delete Dormant Legacy Data: Clean up obsolete files after major patches and updates
Offer Modular Texture Packs: Like Monster Hunter allow optional high resolution texture add-ons without mandating bulk
Automate Audio Compression: Define multiple preconfigured compression presets optimized for target platforms (PC vs mobile vs console) to balance quality and performance
Ship Languages Separately: Avoid multiplicative install size increases from mandatory inclusion of all languages in initial download. Offer language add on packs on stores
Benchmark Optimal Ratios: Analyze data to calibrate viable fidelity ranges based on target platforms rather than unconditionally maxing out quality
It‘s a Balancing Act
Developers face pressures to maximize visual impact which inevitably increase asset sizes and install footprints. But counterintuitively games must actually optimize to control sprawl so virtually all players worldwide can enjoy these graphical leaps consistently across a range of internet speeds, data caps and varied PC capabilities rather than just enthusiasts with unlimited bandwidth and desktop singularity. This becomes doubly important in emerging growth markets where mainstream broadband and storage may be limited but gaming enthusiasm isn‘t!
Rather than looking at absolute metrics in isolation, examine key ratios like textures per scene or audio bitrates per stream that provide valid proxies for perceived quality relative to install sizes. These help inform technical targets to contain bloat without visible regression in metrics like frame rates or streaming throughput. The most technically impressive game means little if potential fans lack feasible access!
