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PurpleGaga27

How game sizes got so huge, and why they'll get even bigger

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PC Gamer ran a new article of the rising gaming sizes: https://www.pcgamer.com/how-game-sizes-got-so-huge-and-why-theyll-get-even-bigger

When I had DSL a couple of years ago I couldn't download anything over 2 GB. Now I have cable, I have no worries how large is the game (except that I need a new faster PC). Usually it took me about 6 hours to download a 2-4 GB game with DSL, but with cable it's less than 6 hours to download over 100+ GB in no time at all. But of course the problem remains is the data cap limit of your ISP depending on where you live. My current ISP has unlimited data with no limits. Even PC software companies aren't even trying to attempt tri- or even quad-layer blu-ray discs for recent games, except for the ones used in video game consoles today. (FYI.... a tri-layer Blu-ray disc can write up to 100 GB whereas a quad-layer Blu-ray disc can write up to 128 GB which is the typical size for a physical 4K Blu-ray movie today)

The painful part of downloading such a huge game, is that you downloaded a compressed file while installing/decompressing the contents from that file at the same time and that affects download speed. Every cloud app of Steam, Origin, etc. does that.

Edited by PurpleGaga27

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it's not just that. Most developers won't bother to compress anything anymore.

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Compression adds overhead. Not a lot usually, but it can stack up if done wrong. And not everything can actually be compressed that well.

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In order to optimize performance, it is better to not use compression, however, to limit all files loaded by the game at the same area of the hard disk drive, which is what .BIG files do on some games from EA, for instance. However, to protect the assets of these games from modders, hackers or the rivals, most developers add encryption, which does not reduce the game size.

Most of them are really not caring for compression anymore... but of course, there will be exceptions, specially on medias where space is still limited (certain consoles).

Edited by Banshee

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