Large Video Game Files | The Struggle for Storage!

Summary

The video discusses the modern challenges gamers face with large game file sizes, emphasizing the frustrations of downloading massive updates and installations. The narrator reflects on how gaming has evolved from simply popping in a disc to requiring extensive downloads, even for physical copies. They share personal experiences with storage management, particularly for games like 'Ark: Survival Evolved,' which takes up over 280GB. The video also highlights other large games such as 'GTA 5,' 'Call of Duty,' and 'Red Dead Redemption 2,' and expresses concerns about the future of gaming, potentially moving to cloud-based systems.

Takeaways

• 🎮 The modern struggle for gamers involves large file sizes for video games, often requiring significant storage space and download times.
• 💾 Modern consoles have adapted to large file sizes by allowing expandable and external storage options.
• 🚫 The risk of data loss from hard drive failures is a concern, which some gamers mitigate by owning physical copies of games.
• 📂 Physical game ownership doesn't completely avoid storage issues, as large download files are still necessary for updates and installations.
• 🕒 The speaker recalls the frustration of waiting for lengthy downloads when first introducing physical game discs, especially on consoles.
• 🖥️ PC gaming often requires downloads, which the speaker was accustomed to, but the same issue has now transferred to console gaming.
• 🔄 Day one and regular updates for games contribute to the ongoing storage struggle, even with physical disks.
• 💿 The speaker has experienced storage issues on their Nintendo Switch, but a spare SD card helped resolve the problem.
• 💻 On PC, managing storage for large game files is a constant challenge, often requiring uninstalling and reinstalling games to manage space.
• 🏆 'Ark: Survival Evolved' is highlighted as having one of the largest file sizes among the speaker's games, reaching up to 280 gigabytes with all DLC included.
• 📈 Other games like 'GTA 5', 'Sea of Thieves', and 'No Man's Sky' are mentioned, with varying file sizes that can be surprising given their content and features.

Q & A

What is the modern struggle of gamers mentioned in the script?

The modern struggle of gamers is the eternal fight between wanting to play new games and having limited storage space on their gaming systems.

How have modern consoles adapted to the issue of large file sizes?

Modern consoles have adapted by allowing for expandable and external storage options to accommodate the large file sizes of games.

What is the author's preference regarding physical game ownership and why?

The author prefers to own games physically because it avoids the issue of storage device failures, but acknowledges that physical ownership doesn't eliminate the need for large download files.

What was the author's experience with downloading games on consoles compared to PCs?

The author was accustomed to downloading games on PCs due to being a PC gamer, but found it different and less convenient when it came to consoles, especially with day one and regular updates.

What recent issue did the author have with storage on their Nintendo Switch?

The author had a storage issue with their Nintendo Switch, which was resolved by using a spare SD card.

How does the author manage storage on their PC for gaming?

The author manages storage on their PC by uninstalling games they don't play often and keeping the most played games on the SSD for faster speeds and load times.

What is the largest game file size the author personally owns?

The largest game file size the author personally owns is for the game 'Ark: Survival Evolved', which is close to 280 gigabytes on their PC with all the DLC installed.

Why does the author believe 'Ark: Survival Evolved' is so large despite being optimized poorly?

The author believes 'Ark: Survival Evolved' is large due to its multiple expansive maps, sub-areas, interactable elements, different characters with their own AIs, and many textures.

What other games are mentioned as having large file sizes in the script?

Other games mentioned as having large file sizes include 'GTA 5', 'Sea of Thieves', 'Red Dead Redemption 2', 'Final Fantasy XV', 'Quantum Break', 'Destiny 2', 'Hitman 2', 'Microsoft Flight Simulator', and 'Rainbow Six Siege'.

What is the author's opinion on the future of gaming with regards to large file sizes?

The author suggests that the struggle with large file sizes is ever-present and will likely continue, unless gaming shifts entirely to cloud-based platforms.

What is the author's strategy for dealing with large game files?

The author's strategy is to install large games before they plan to play them, manage their storage by uninstalling and reinstalling games on different drives, and keeping frequently played games on the SSD.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 The Struggle with Large Game Files in Modern Gaming

The paragraph discusses the challenge of large file sizes in modern video games, which can reach up to 60 gigabytes or more. It highlights the dilemma gamers face between wanting to play new games and the limited storage space on their gaming systems. The speaker appreciates the adaptability of modern consoles to include expandable and external storage options, but also expresses concern over the potential loss of games if a hard drive fails. There's a preference for physical game ownership to avoid storage device issues, but this doesn't eliminate the need to deal with large download files. The paragraph reminisces about the past when games could be played immediately after inserting a disc, contrasting it with the current need for day-one and regular updates, and sometimes even full game downloads for physical disks. The speaker also shares personal experiences with game storage on different platforms, including a recent issue with a Nintendo Switch and the necessity of managing storage on a PC by uninstalling and reinstalling games to manage space effectively.

05:01

🌐 The Impact of Game File Sizes on Gamers and Storage

This paragraph continues the discussion on the impact of large game files, with a focus on the speaker's personal gaming experiences and observations. It mentions the speaker's surprise at the size of certain game files, such as 'Sea of Thieves' being over 80 gigabytes, and shares a personal anecdote about reinstalling 'Ark: Survival Evolved', which took an entire night to download and install. The speaker notes that while they don't own many games with extremely large file sizes, those they do own are often justified by the game's content. The paragraph also touches on games that surprisingly do not have massive file sizes, like 'No Man's Sky', and contrasts it with other games that do, such as 'Dead by Daylight'. The speaker concludes by speculating on the largest game files currently available, with 'Ark: Survival Evolved' being a likely candidate due to its size and additional DLC content. Other games mentioned include 'Call of Duty' titles, 'Red Dead Redemption 2', 'Final Fantasy XV', 'Quantum Break', 'Destiny 2', 'Hitman 2', 'Microsoft Flight Simulator', and 'Rainbow Six Siege', all noted for their significant file sizes. The paragraph ends with a reflection on the inevitability of large game files in the future of gaming.

Keywords

💡Video Games

Video games are interactive digital entertainment products played on various platforms such as consoles, computers, and mobile devices. In the context of the video, video games are the central theme, with a focus on the challenges gamers face with large file sizes, which is a modern struggle as games become more complex and visually rich.

💡File Sizes

File sizes refer to the amount of digital storage required to hold a particular file or game. The video discusses the increasing file sizes of modern video games, which can reach up to several gigabytes, impacting gamers' storage capacity and download times.

💡Storage

Storage in the video refers to the physical and digital space available on gaming consoles and computers to save game files. The script highlights the struggle between the desire to play more games and the limited storage capacity of gaming systems.

💡Consoles

Consoles are specialized electronic devices for playing video games, such as PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. The video mentions how modern consoles have adapted to large file sizes by allowing expandable and external storage options.

💡Physical Games

Physical games are tangible copies of video games, usually on discs or cartridges. The video contrasts physical games with digital downloads, expressing a preference for owning games physically to avoid storage device issues, although this doesn't solve the problem of large download files.

💡Day One Patches

Day One Patches are updates released on the same day a game is launched to fix bugs or add content. The video script mentions these as part of the modern gaming experience, where gamers have to wait for updates before playing even with a physical disk.

💡PC Gaming

PC Gaming refers to playing video games on a personal computer. The script contrasts PC gaming with console gaming, noting that PC gamers are accustomed to downloading games from platforms like Steam, which is different from the traditional console gaming experience.

💡Optimization

Optimization in gaming refers to the process of improving a game's performance and reducing its file size without compromising quality. The video criticizes the large file size of 'Ark: Survival Evolved' and suggests that it is poorly optimized, implying that its file size could be reduced.

💡DLC (Downloadable Content)

DLC refers to additional content that can be downloaded and installed to enhance or expand a base game. The video mentions DLC as a contributor to the large file size of games, using 'Ark: Survival Evolved' as an example where the game's file size grows with additional maps and content.

💡Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming is a service that allows users to play games on remote servers instead of local hardware, streaming the gameplay to their devices. The video briefly speculates about the future of gaming, suggesting cloud gaming as a potential solution to the problem of large file sizes.

💡HD Texture Packs

HD Texture Packs are high-definition graphical updates for games that enhance visual quality. The video mentions the large file size of 'Rainbow Six Siege', noting that even without the HD texture pack, the game requires a significant amount of storage space.

Highlights

The modern struggle of gamers is balancing the desire to play new games with limited storage space.

Most modern consoles now support expandable and external storage options.

Physical game ownership can mitigate storage device issues but not the large download files.

PC gaming often requires downloading games, which can be a different experience from console gaming.

Day one and regular updates for games have become common, increasing file sizes.

The Nintendo Switch can be expanded with a spare SD card for additional storage.

Large game files are a common issue for PC gamers, especially for those with many games and apps.

Some games, like 'Ark: Survival Evolved', can have file sizes up to 280 gigabytes on PC.

The physical version of 'Ark: Survival Evolved' for consoles required significant downloads despite having a disk.

The file size of 'GTA 5' is large but justified due to its content and updates.

'Sea of Thieves' has a file size over 80 gigabytes, illustrating the size of modern games.

Reinstalling large games like 'Ark: Survival Evolved' can take over a day.

Some games, surprisingly, do not have massive file sizes despite their complexity.

'No Man's Sky' has a relatively small file size compared to its expansive gameplay.

The largest game file sizes are often over 100 gigabytes, with 'Ark: Survival Evolved' leading.

Other games with large files include 'Call of Duty' titles, 'Red Dead Redemption 2', and 'Final Fantasy XV'.

The file size of 'Rainbow Six Siege' is unusually large, even with the HD texture pack.

Large game files are an enduring issue in modern gaming, likely to continue with high-end gaming.

Transcripts

all right so I want to talk about video

games with large file sizes the modern

struggle of Gamers you ever go to play a

new game and you pop it in and you've

got a 60 gigabyte download in the way

first it sucks but that's just how

gaming is nowadays the Eternal fight

between what games you want to play and

how much storage your systems got left

thankfully most modern consoles have

adapted to this and allow for expandable

and external storage options but if

something goes wrong with a hard drive

and it gets brigged straight up breaks

or gets lost somehow bye bye games

this is a big reason I prefer to own my

games physically but that only avoids

the issue with storage devices you still

have to put up with huge download files

I remember when the trend started to

happen and just how much of a buzz kill

it would be to get a new game and be so

eager to play only to pop the game into

your console and get stuck waiting for

an hour just for it to download First

I will say I was somewhat accustomed to

this with having been a PC Gamer growing

up because I had to download every game

off steam first to be able to play it

but it just felt different when it came

to consoles gone are the days where you

could just pop in a disc and start

playing now there are all these day one

patch updates weekly or monthly updates

and worst of all having to straight up

just download the game even though you

have the physical disk I've gone to now

if I want to play a new game for a

modern console I just go ahead and Pop

That disc in and let it download way

before I have time or interest to

actually sit down and play it thankfully

I haven't personally had too many issues

with storage on my consoles until

recently with my Nintendo switch but

that's nothing a spare SD card laying

around the house can't fix

I don't play too much large games on my

PlayStation so it's perfectly fine on

storage my PC however this is where I do

the majority of my gaming especially for

larger games so storage is always an

existing problem and not only with games

but just with the other files and apps

I've got on my PC as well I've had to do

Mass uninstalls with games that I just

don't play that often or we're taking up

too much space on my solid state drive

there's absolutely no way I could have

every single one of my Steam games

installed at the same time it would just

take up way too much space and even

worse than just uninstalling a bunch of

games is uninstalling a bunch of games

just to reinstall them on a different

Drive

I try now to keep my main games that I

play the most on my SSD to take

advantage of the faster speeds and load

times and all that and then all of my

other games that I really only play from

time to time I just keep those on my

hard drive however all of my largest

games in terms of file size

coincidentally end up being some of my

favorites to play so they just always

end up on the SSD and fill it up no

matter how much I try to delegate the

storage space so yeah the struggle

between gaming and having large file

sizes is ever present in the modern day

and by the looks of things with the

direction that high-end gaming is going

this is something that will never go

away that is unless you purely play

games off of the cloud and if that's the

future of gaming I don't know I'll just

have to find a new hobby or something

but just what are some of the largest

games that currently exist and just how

big are they if you were anything like

me you play a lot of smaller games and

you may be blissed to just how big some

of these games can be but as someone who

has ventured to the dark side of gaming

also known as larger game files I am

here to share this information with you

let's start with the game that I

personally own that has the largest file

that being Arc survival evolved

game is massive and to an extent

justifiably so because there are

multiple large expansive maps with

sub-areas tons of interactable elements

a bunch of different characters with

their own AIS and many textures to this

game but at the same time Arc is also

just horribly optimized and could

definitely be shrunk down to a smaller

file size although I'm also no Game Dev

so what do I know but yeah Arc is a

massive file size I remember playing

during the Early Access and it was

normal for the game to receive

multi-gigabyte sized content updates and

now with all the DLC maps the game is

close to up to 280 gigabytes on my PC

when Arc got announced for consoles like

PlayStation and Xbox I was taken back

because I knew it was going to be a mess

getting that to work it was

and even worse when it got announced for

the Nintendo switch because I knew there

was no way it would work it doesn't

they ended up having to use the mobile

version of Arc Deport to the switch

which the fact that Arc even has a

mobile version for the game is

absolutely amazing anyways Arc may be

one of my favorite video games but it

will never be immune to my criticism

especially when it comes to how large

the game file is besides Arc most of my

other games are only around 100

gigabytes GTA 5 is pretty large and once

again that is justifiably so even if it

is a game from 2013. but with all the

content updates and features this game

has received it's no wonder the size of

the game file has only increased over

the years to become so large

I just finally got sea of Thieves a

couple days ago and that game is over 80

gigabytes even over ethernet games this

size can take a while to download I

remember once I got stuck having to

reinstall Ark survival evolved and what

I had to do was leave my computer on

overnight just to install it and if I'm

remembering correctly it took 17 hours

to fully install I I will never

uninstall that game again overall though

I'd say I don't really own too many

games that have extremely large file

sizes and the games that I do own that

have big file sizes tend to be somewhat

reasonable I do own a few games however

that I'm surprised don't have massive

file sizes the first that comes to mind

is no man's Sky when I originally got

this game I was prepared for a really

long download time for a massive game

but it turns out it's only about like

20ish gigs which is large in terms of

game files but not in terms of like

hundreds and hundreds of gigs the fact

that dead my daylight again game that is

easily replicated in Roblox of all

things is twice as large of a game file

than no man's Sky blows my mind but like

I said I'm No Game Dev so there's

probably a ton of back-end stuff going

on with these games that give them

surprising file sizes small or large but

that's enough of my games what are some

of the games with the largest files out

there it's a little tricky to find out

an exact ordered list because reported

numbers across different lists will say

different things but for a generalized

idea it's not too difficult to find out

although if I did have to say based on

my findings and personal input the

largest game file has to be Ark survival

evolved with all the DLC installed as

well I feel biased saying this since I

actually owned the game but from what I

can gather from other lists there really

isn't too much games around the 250

Gigabyte range and like I mentioned

before my personal file size for Arc is

280 so I'm just gonna go ahead and say

that as of right now the largest video

game you can possibly own in terms of

file size is Ark survival evolved there

is a chance that I could be wrong about

this but I'm just going to say that it

is a good guess to say that Arc is the

game with the largest file size if I had

to give an answer right now but just

going over some of the other games that

generally would show up on these lists

of largest game files we've got a couple

of the new Call of Duty games with Call

Of Duty Black Ops Cold War and Call of

Duty Modern Warfare 2019 obviously Red

Dead Redemption 2's expansive world is

going to have one of the largest game

files

one game that I consistently saw across

multiple lists that surprised me was

Final Fantasy XV being respectively

large game Quantum break a game I

remember hearing about in 2016 when it

was launching but have heard virtually

nothing about sense apparently has a

very large and still growing file size

Destiny 2 and Hitman 2 are both around

the same-ish size being about 150 to 160

gigabytes Microsoft's flight simulator

is justifiably very large to download

but I am sure that a lot of people

wouldn't realize that or even think

about that and the last game that I want

to mention is just how disgustingly

large the download file size is for

Rainbow Six Siege obviously that's

taking into account the HD texture pack

included but even without the HD

textures installed Rainbow Six Siege is

criminally large of a game file I never

thought I would have the very specific

opportunity to complain about r6's file

size so I took my opportunity and ran

with it but yeah I feel like there

really isn't much else to say when it

comes to large game files it's something

we all have most likely encountered

before and it's for sure something

that's going to be here to stay I was

just curious which of my games

personally were among some of the

largest in terms of game file sizes and

which games out there truly have the

largest as of now

I also just wanted to complain

[Music]

thank you