Helldivers 2 has always had a significantly higher install size on PC compared to the console versions. At launch, players needed around 70GB of free space to install the game but after more than a year of updates, the PC version has ballooned to a 150GB file size. Now, thanks to some intricate optimisation work, the PC version has been dramatically reduced by over 130GB.
Helldivers 2 fans can rejoice and reclaim some SSD space. In a recent update, Arrowhead revealed that with some help from Sony’s PC-focused studio, Nixxes, they have managed to reduce the PC install size of the game all the way down to just 23GB.
This is a massive 85 percent reduction in file size. It turns out that the PC version of the game was so big because it had a ton of duplicated assets within the game files. This duplication was originally implemented to improve load times for players using mechanical hard drives, but in practice most of the loading delays came from level generation rather than asset streaming. As a result, the duplicated data wasn’t providing meaningful benefits, yet it caused the install footprint to balloon far beyond the console versions.
After coming to this conclusion, Arrowhead and Nixxes worked together to create a ‘slim’ build of the game. The end result was SSD users experiencing no difference in load times, while HDD users should only experience a few extra seconds of delay. This change not only makes the game more manageable to install and update, but also ensures parity with console versions, which were much smaller all along.
Arrowhead is still testing the slim version of the game, but PC players can opt in via Steam and get immediate access to the smaller version of the game, all without giving up access to the usual matchmaking queues and game content. If you do encounter an issue, you can quickly revert to the ‘legacy’ build by going into the Steam menu and changing your beta participation status to ‘none’.
KitGuru Says: I would like to see more game developers focusing their efforts on reducing file sizes. Many titles nowadays have large 100GB+ install requirements, despite the game content not necessarily justifying the install size.
