The latest beta update for Helldivers 2 has arrived on Steam, bringing with it a significant reduction in file size that could ease storage concerns for many PC gamers. Developers announced on Tuesday that they have successfully trimmed the game’s installation size by approximately 85 percent, shrinking it from around 154GB to just 23GB. This remarkable achievement not only liberates valuable disk space but also allows players to install additional large titles alongside Helldivers 2.
In a detailed post on the game’s Steam page, the development team expressed their satisfaction with this accomplishment, attributing the success to their collaboration with Nixxes. They emphasized that the long-term objective has always been to align the PC installation size more closely with that of console versions. The developers stated:
“The longer term goal has always been to bring the PC installation size much closer in line with the console versions. We are happy to report that, thanks to our partners at Nixxes, we have reached that goal much sooner than expected. By completely de-duplicating our data, we were able to reduce the PC installation size from ~154GB to ~23GB, for a total saving of ~131GB.”
Despite the substantial reduction in size, the developers assured players that the impact on load times would be minimal, estimating only a few seconds at most. The previous larger file size was primarily due to the duplication of game asset data, a strategy intended to enhance load times for players using mechanical HDDs. However, the team discovered that the primary factor affecting load times in Helldivers 2 was level generation rather than the loading of game assets. This realization led them to conclude that the duplication was providing negligible benefits for the majority of players, while unnecessarily inflating the file size for everyone.
For those eager to experience the benefits of this streamlined version, the technical public beta is now available for all PC users of Helldivers 2 on Steam. Players can opt in to test this optimized version, which is set to become the default once any remaining issues identified during the beta phase are resolved.
