Have you ever wondered why Helldivers 2 takes up a significantly larger chunk of space on your PC compared to its console counterparts, the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5? Clocking in at a hefty 150GB, the PC version is roughly three times the size. Brendan Armstrong, deputy technical director at Arrowhead Game Studio, shed some light on this perplexing issue, explaining that the game’s expansive footprint on PC is primarily due to its continued support for a small segment of users still running mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs).
In a detailed post, Armstrong elaborated that this antiquated approach necessitates duplicating much of the game’s data. This duplication strategy is designed to group data closely together, thereby minimizing loading times for HDD users. However, for the vast majority of players who have transitioned to solid-state drives (SSDs), this duplication is entirely unnecessary. The studio faces a significant hurdle: accurately determining how many players are still using mechanical HDDs.
“How many Helldivers 2 players are still using mechanical HDD? The truth is that we don’t currently know,” Armstrong stated. He further explained that even Steam’s user surveys fail to provide reliable data on HDD usage within the broader PC gaming community. Current estimates suggest around 12% of PC gamers might still be on HDDs, but this figure is based on unreliable extrapolations. Until more precise data is available, it’s difficult for Arrowhead to assess the impact of reducing data duplication on their player base. Armstrong highlighted a critical point: the mission load time for an entire squad is dictated by its slowest member, meaning a single HDD user can slow down everyone.
Armstrong outlined several potential solutions, noting that the upcoming update will include some progress toward reducing the file size. However, he cautioned that players might not immediately perceive these gains, as “the new stuff we’ve added will eat those gains.” For a medium-term strategy, Arrowhead plans to bundle common assets together, moving away from numerous duplicate files. While this might slightly increase load times for mechanical HDD users, the goal is to keep these times under 30 seconds.
Looking ahead, Arrowhead is committed to refining its game engine and implementing advanced compression techniques to further diminish the need for data duplication. Despite these efforts, Armstrong admitted that the studio is still uncertain if these improvements will prove feasible without adversely affecting load times.
In other news, Arrowhead Game Studio CEO Shams Jorjani recently expressed the team’s long-term vision for Helldivers 2: to sustain it indefinitely rather than developing a sequel. The studio also rolled out a patch addressing persistent cave crashes and audio glitches. More recently, Arrowhead acknowledged a comprehensive list of ongoing issues, including performance drops, stability hiccups, freezes, and those bothersome audio bugs. While an update is slated for release later this month, many of these deeper issues may require more extensive time to resolve.
Players can also check out the ‘Helldivers 2 Dust Devils Warbond’ image gallery, showcasing all available skins, guns, and rewards.