Do game install sizes affect your decisions as a consumer?

[lazygecko]

Now that it's common for games to be well over 50gb in size, it seems to me as though we've passed a critical threshold in the ratio between game sizes and common hard drive sizes. On numerous occasions now I've thought about downloading a game I either uninstalled previously, or have in my untouched Steam backlog. But then I look at the game's size, consider the amount of space I have left on my hard drive, and promptly change my mind about it.

And that's just my situation on PC. I don't really know what it looks like on the console end of things today, what with digital downloads and mandatory installs now being much more commonplace, but I can easily imagine it being worse.

Then there's a secondary factor in all of this which is internet bandwidth. Particularly in the stunted American telecom market with their bandwidth caps, I imagine you might think twice about downloading a game that's 70gb big if you've started to reach the cap from all the other downloading and streaming you usually do throughout a month.

It seems as though after game sizes skyrocketed, developers and publishers don't really care about these issues. Do you think these problems exist on a big enough scale that it actually might make a dent in consumer habits? Enough for it to make developers consider optimizing their game sizes better?
In my personal cases, those were of course games I had already bought so they already got my money. But consider the current monetization climate we're moving into where publishers care more about player retention and getting hooked on their microtransaction services.

 

[purseowner]

No, but the constant uninstalling required on PS4 to free up the space for new games means my backlog gets easily forgotten.

 

[mrmickfran]

Still don't have Doom even though I really want to play it.

 

[MechanicalWall]

Not really, I still have a base 500 gb PS4 and I've never fretted about big game installs, it's not like I'm playing enough games concurrently that I'm ever not going to have the space I need. I just delete some shit that I wasn't playing in the first place and then install what I want.

 

[Victorius]

No. If there is a game I want to play, no file size can be a concern. There are affordable HDDs and SSDs to equip my PS4 Pro with should this be an issue in the future.

 

[mrtl]

Don't have a problem with this. I can easily upgrade the storage on my Xbox, if it would ever be necessary. ISPs don't impose transfer caps here. Steam allows for transferring data to other drives, right? If so, just buy inexpensive HDD storage.

 

[SturokBGD]

I don't even think about it.

Until I realize I have to delete everything on my PS4 drive to make space for something new...

Oddly it doesn't bother me on PC.

 

[Pankratous]

I don't even consider it.

 

[Bishop89]

not really.

It was annoying having to delete stuff to make room but since i got a 2tb external HDD, i've never thought about it.

I also only have 1tb internet, but the only things i download are games, and im not going to be downloading 1tb of games any given month lol

 

[viral]

Not at all, I have fast internet, and plenty of hard drive space, so it really doesn't bother me.

 

[The ๖ۜBronx]

No. I'm usually only playing at most 3 or 4 games at any one point, have good internet and no data cap. So if I need space I delete something I'm not using and carry on. Do need to clear out my screenshot/video folder though. Destiny 1's folder is 78GB and others aren't so small either.

 

[Possumowner]

Nope,definitely not.Ive upgraded my Ps4 and Xbox hdds.While pc is a no brainer as I've got plenty of space and upgrading options

 

[ParanormalFupa]

Yep it bothers me when I want to play something sooner than the download/install will allow. I've avoided buying games because of this. You can't really play big games on a sudden urge anymore. It's like time traveling back to dial up days. I also have data caps to consider. I've mostly been playing switch recently though and the size restraint is something I have been appreciating.

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

If worse comes to worse OP can just add another HDD in the PC. I mean, that's what I did when space was getting tight; an entire HDD dedicated to my Steam games.

 

[iceblade]

Just ran into this yesterday actually - 9 games installed on the PS4 (500GB) and it's already almost full. And the funny thing is that several of those games are smaller titles weighing in at less than 25GB. It's definitely started to make me think twice about downloading and installing games, and I think The Elder Scrolls Online and GTA V were two examples where I almost ran into the monthly cap thanks to having to download both (both on PC) - ended up uninstalling ESO thanks to the constant updates, too. I don't think devs are going to be so concerned with compression or trying to reduce patch sizes - it's been 4 years into the gen and it's just continued as it was at the beginning, but like you allude to, not everyone has fast internet, or no caps, and on console even if you don't have internet, while you can still play without a day 1 patch, that patch is starting to become more and more important as time goes by so you still wind up running into the same issue. I'm still used to the previous gen's sizes so it's still an adjustment period and I'm obviously going to have to do like others here and juggle games on the PS4 since I'd rather spend the money on games than a hard drive upgrade. It would definitely help if the sizes would come down, though, and I've taken to preferring physical for games (on console), or if it's Steam, waiting to the end of the month to install the bigger games.

The other thing that exacerbates this is the bit on PS4 of needing more free space than just the install size to install the game, as mentioned here.

 

[GrrImAFridge]

Perhaps if I were still on a crummy ADSL connection, but not anymore.

 

[thekonamicode]

3 TB external drive on PS4 is the best investment I've made this generation. I was absolutely sick of deleting a game EVERY time I bought a new one.

 

[Cheeseburgla]

This never bothered me. Like the others who have posted, I have fast internet and a large external drive. My brother in law lives out in the middle of nowhere, and has slightly better than dial up speeds and a cap. He doesn't like this obviously. I dont understand how he deals with it.

 

[Duxxy3]

Not at all. Larger game sizes are just a pain in the ass and less convenient.

 

[Zellia]

I have good internet with no caps and plenty of HDD space, so it's not a concern for me. I can see how it's a problem for people who don't have one or the other though.

 

[PaulloDEC]

It's certainly annoying having to keep making space for massive new games, but that's always what I'll do if I want to play it badly enough. There's always something I haven't played in a while that I can uninstall for space.

 

[Olaf]

Not really. I just need to uninstall something that was a disappointment. I doubt I will get 1TB worth of good games this gen.

 

[elektrixx]

No. I prefer to make future-proof decisions. If I run out of space on something I'll upgrade it instead of complaining.

 

[Graciaus]

Not really my internet is fine and most of my gaming is on steam which downloads quickly. Console wise patch sizes are the problem. Yesterday I turned my Xbox on for the first time in months and had two huge updates. First form the xbox then from the game. Needless to say I didn't end up playing anything.

 

[Allforce]

This is why I primarily buy physical copies anymore. Cheaper plus it's way quicker to reinstall off the disc rather than download an entire 50+ GB file.

The games I have bought digitally I mostly regret because I dont want to delete them in case I "might" want to play them sometime on a whim and they're just eating up space. I think like 60% of my XBOs 500gb drive is eaten up at all times by Gears 4, Forza Horizons 3, and Killer Instinct

 

[Deleted member 10726]

Bigger install sizes did push me more towards buying more games physically again since my internet just isn't fast enough and downloading takes quite a while.

It's not like I'm starving for HDD space though so even when I do get something digitally I normally just have to download it once.

 

[Dougieflesh]

I'm never playing that many games at once where I need all those games installed onto my Pro. Install sizes aren't a bother at all.

 

[Rival]

Honestly I've never thought it a big issue, however with games ballooning in size I can see myself being increasingly annoyed, at least when it comes to the console side of gaming as they have very limited HDD space as standard

 

[JoeG]

Never an issue I don't even pay attention to game size. Regardless of disc space....digital titles can be redownloaded at anytime.

 

[FriedConsole]

On Vita yes. I don't have $100 for a 64GB card.

 

[freakybj]

Absolutely it impacts my decisions. It was one of the reasons I didn't get Forza. Downloading it would've taken up a lot of space on my hard drive and put me over my monthly cap limit. I could see game sizes having an adverse effect on the games as a service business model as people uninstall these games to make room for new purchased games.

 

[BasilZero]

No, but the constant uninstalling required on PS4 to free up the space for new games means my backlog gets easily forgotten.

Click to shrink...

Same here.

Though I easily get reminded when I check my backloggery....

 

[Freddo]

Nope, not at all. The first thing I did when I bought a PS4 about a year ago was to replace the internal drive with a 2TB drive. And now it's even easier when it support external drives if needed.

No cap limit or anything of that sort here in Sweden either, I can download as much as I want.

 

[curi0usBystander]

With my current internet connection it doesn't really bother me.

 

[Mobyduck]

Used to. Until recently my top speed was 500kb download. Downloading MMOs and other big games took way too long, so I just bought and played indie games.

Now I have a better internet, but I still prefer indie games.

 

[Kill3r7]

No but if I had a data cap they might.

 

[mrtl]

On Vita yes. I don't have $100 for a 64GB card.

Click to shrink...

Yup, I totally forgot I have a Vita. Same problem.

 

[Baleoce]

Yes, mainly because of the strength of my internet though.

I'm not going through a fortnight ordeal of installing a 60GB game just to potentially not like it. And in some cases even if I like it, aggressive patching means I'm essentially locked out of it for long periods of time. Like with Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, I got through two thirds of the story, then there was a 7.6GB patch on Steam. I completed it, and there was a follow up 9.2GB patch. I ended up uninstalling it xD I'm going to go back to physical on console as it'll ease that a little more, and I think the patches for the most part will be optional for single player content.

 

[Seijuro]

Not at all. I switched to a 2tb drive for my PS4 though some time ago. When I had the 500gb drive I would just delete old games, if the hard drive switching wouldn't work it wouldn't be dealbreaker. Even now if my current drive is full I will just delete old stuff as I can always reinstall or redownload.
That's coming from someone that lives in an area where there is fast internet with no download cap. I realize many people are not so lucky.

 

[KLonso]

Nah, if I need space I'll just uninstall something I'm not playing

 

[Freki]

No. Doesn't influence me in the slightest way. Would be another story if my internet was capped.

 

[GbaDoctor]

Not yet, but download/patch sizes SERIOUSLY do.

There are a few exceptions, but:

- haven't bought gears of war 4, althought I really, really really really want to play it, because of the friggin' 100gb download.

- haven't updated Doom since a few patches, and ultimately uninstalled it, because each patch is 40gb.

- haven't got Forza 7 either because of 100gb download, more or less, but I had the guts of getting Forza Horizon 3 that was half-behemot, by leaving my PC online 2 days for downloading it.

So, please devs, explore some compression or some other ways to patch the games like xdelta or whatever, because if this trend keeps going on alot of people will not be able to download something in human timings.

There are parts of the world not reached by fiber, such my town, and I'm one of the luckiest because I'm sitting on a 22mbit adsl2.
But still, it's not fast enough for 100gb download, not to mention you can cap pretty easily your monthly plan if there's any.

 

[Skai]

No, but it does effect my buying of large HDDs or SSD. On my new upcoming build I'm going 500gb M.2 for my OS and 500 or 1TB Samsung EVO 850 and a 4TB HDD

 

[Phalk]

I do! In fact I really hate long downloads when I'm super hyped to play a game.

 

[Ghella1994]

It used to be a huge factor... until we switched to an ISP without downoad cap.

 

[Spidey]

It was definitely a problem with Vita, I remember with sales I'd make a list of the games I was interested in, search for install sizes, then weigh up price and size pretty evenly.

 

[ChillyBilly]

Not really. I've become used to the whole, uninstall a game or two to install a new one. It's not ideal but eh, it is what it is I guess.

 

[Detective]

Nope.

 

[SavoyPrime]

I've really just got to a point where my hard drive is almost full. Still got about 200GB free. But I uninstall my games when I'm done with them, so it really hasn't become an issue for me, yet. I do hate that every game does a full install even if you have a disc.

 

[Prime]

Not at all, it's not always convenient but still... It's weird when I decide to uninstall a game I usually tell myself "but what if I want to play it soon!", even if it's a game that I haven't played in months and looking back at it didn't play anymore either way.