Helldivers 2 Devs Address Load Time and Installation Size…

Arrowhead Game Studios has addressed Helldivers 2 fans' concerns over its PC file size, explaining why it's so big and outlining some potential solutions. Optimization has been a big issue among the game's fanbase lately, but devs have been vocal about recognizing the need for improvement and working on fixes. As part of that, the Helldivers 2 team has now offered a glimpse into how ongoing development could shape out in the future.

While the co-op shooter remains popular across platforms, gamers' feelings toward it have wavered lately. In late September, Helldivers 2's Steam reviews fell to "mixed" as PC users listed complaints about the game's stability and performance. CEO Shams Joranji said the team was "well aware" of the problem and actively working on it, and now fans have a closer look at what's going on behind the scenes.

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By Daniel Morris

Helldivers 2's PC File Size Stems from Its Mechanical HDD Support

In an October 3 Steam update, Arrowhead's Deputy Technical Director explained that Helldivers 2's bloated PC installation size stems from a quirk of mechanical HDD support. The game employs a technique called data duplication to accelerate load times on HDDs by creating multiple copies of common assets, so an HDD's read arm doesn't have to move as far to load a level in its entirety. SSDs load data without physical movement, so they don't have the same problem. This is why Helldivers 2's PC file size is 140 GB when the console version, which is optimized for SSDs, is just 35GB.

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Other games have struggled with load time issues on HDDs before, too. Notably, Starfield requires an SSD because rendering would take too long on HDDs, as the read arm has to physically move between locations. Helldivers 2's data duplication minimizes those load times, but it also leads to file bloat, leaving devs with an uncertain path forward. The post explains that in the short and medium term, Arrowhead will remove unused assets and bundle common files to minimize HDD load times while shrinking the overall file size. Beyond that, though, the solution is less clear.

Arrowhead said it can't optimize solely for SSDs, even as they become more common, until it knows how many Helldivers 2 PC players use HDDs, as it doesn't want to leave these users with a worse experience. It also floated the idea of making 4K textures optional and said devs will experiment with compression and improvements to the game engine to see what works best. The studio has confirmed that it has no plans for a Helldivers 3 at this time, which frees up time and resources to focus on these optimizations, but when a permanent solution will come out is still uncertain.

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Third-Person Shooter

Extraction Shooter

Action

Science Fiction

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Systems

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%

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Released: February 8, 2024
ESRB: Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s): Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
Publisher(s): Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing