Video game file and installation sizes have been increasing with every new generation, especially with high-profile AAA releases. It"s not uncommon to see games requiring at least 100GB or more free space to start playing. One of these has been Helldivers 2 from Arrowhead Game Studios, with the PC version ballooning to over 150GB since launch. However, the studio has a solution incoming that will slim that down to console levels.
The studio says that the reason that the console version of Helldivers 2 weighs in at less than a third of the PC version is due to it catering to mechanical hard drive (HDD) users on the latter. Data duplication is being used across the game to reduce loading times on HDDs, making the game a much larger install on PC compared to the SSD-only Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. This is what"s being changed up.
"The practice of duplicating data to reduce loading times is a game development technique that is primarily used to optimize games for older storage media, particularly mechanical Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and optical discs like DVDs," explains the studio. "This practice is largely unnecessary for games deployed on Solid State Drives (SSDs) which is why the console versions of HELLDIVERS 2 do not do this."
While Arrowhead had expected a drastic increase in loading times for HDD users after removing duplicated data, as external data had reported a 5x increase, it had found that only a few seconds were added. It had found that the game uses more of its loading time on level generation than asset loading, making the data duplication not that useful anyway.
The studio also revealed that 11% of its Helldivers 2 player base on PC currently use HDDs.
After ditching the duplicated data, which it had accomplished with some help from Sony porting specialist studio Nixxes Software, Helldivers 2 has gone from 154GB in size to just 23GB on PC.
The update carrying the massive, or small, change is currently in testing on Steam via a beta. Helldivers 2 players can head to the game"s properties, then the Betas tab, and select the "prod_slim" option from the dropdown menu.
"You will be connected to the same galactic war as everyone else and be using the same account you always do - so all progression, war contributions and purchases will carry over between the different versions," adds Arrowhead. "You will still be able to matchmake and play with all other players."
Once Arrowhead confirms the slim build is stable, it will push it out of beta into being the default option for all PC players. It will still offer a "legacy" option afterward for anyone still experiencing issues, but this won"t be available for a long period.