Helldivers 2's PC install size has now been cut by almost 80% thanks to Sony's Nixxes Software

After complaints of Arrowhead’s multiplayer hit Helldivers 2 taking up over 150 GB of storage space, the studio has announced that with the assistance of PlayStation studio Nixxes Software, it has managed to bring down the game’s size to just 23 GB.

The details:

• Since the launch of Helldivers 2 in February 2024, fans have noted that the PC version of the game takes up three times the amount of storage space as its console counterparts. This number has only grown as new content has been added to the live service title, prompting Arrowhead to explain that this is done to make the game perform better on low-end hardware, especially on PCs still using mechanical hard drives.
• In a post to the game’s Steam page, the studio’s deputy technical director, Brendan Armstrong, announced that the Helldivers 2 team has managed to decrease the game’s file size to just approximately 23 GB. He explained that with the help of Nixxes Software, a PlayStation studio best known for its critically acclaimed PC ports of titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man, it managed to reduce the file size with only an impact of a few seconds of additional loading screens for those playing on an HDD.
• Armstrong explained that after testing, the team discovered that most of the loading time for Helldivers 2 is related to level generation rather than loading in-game assets, meaning that duplicating those assets for quicker access on an HDD was unnecessary. On top of that, only 11% of players are still using HDDs as of last week.
• Arrowhead has now released the smaller build of the game as a public Steam beta to allow players to provide feedback prior to its full launch. This build will carry over all of your progress and share the same online servers as the main release of the game, meaning that the only difference is potential stability and performance issues, and of course, a smaller file size. “You will still be able to matchmake and play with all other players,” Armstrong wrote. “You can also opt out at any time if you experience issues. It’s a low-risk way to save around 131 GB of space on your drive and help us extend our testing to real-life conditions.”