Arrowhead Studios, the creative force behind Helldivers 2, is currently addressing a significant concern regarding the game’s installation size on PC, which has become a topic of discussion among players. In a recent update shared on Steam, Brendan Armstrong, the deputy technical director, initiated a series of communications aimed at shedding light on the “technical health” of the game and the challenges the engineering team is navigating.
Understanding the Installation Size
Armstrong acknowledged that the installation size of 150GB on PC is notably larger—three times the size of its console counterpart. He attributed this discrepancy to two primary factors: data duplication and the limitations of mechanical hard drives (HDDs). “The main issue with a mechanical HDD is seek time,” he elaborated. “An HDD stores data on a spinning platter, and a physical arm with a read head has to move across the platter to find and retrieve data.” This mechanical process can create a bottleneck, particularly when loading complex game levels filled with various objects.
To mitigate loading times, Arrowhead has opted to duplicate certain data files, such as common textures and sound effects, placing them in close proximity to where they will be utilized in the game. Armstrong explained, “Much of the data in the PC version of Helldivers 2 is duplicated… This practice is largely unnecessary for games deployed on Solid State Drives (SSDs), which is why the console versions do not follow this approach.” However, as long as mechanical HDDs remain part of the minimum specifications for PC players, this duplication strategy will persist.
Assessing the Player Base
While Arrowhead is working to better understand the prevalence of mechanical HDDs among its players, estimates suggest that around 12% of PC gamers still rely on this older technology. “Until we can more accurately determine the number of mechanical HDDs that Helldivers 2 is installed on, it is difficult to know how many players will be impacted by reducing the amount of data duplication,” Armstrong noted. He emphasized that even a small percentage could affect the overall experience, as loading times for missions are determined by the slowest player in a squad.
Future Improvements
As the team continues to tackle this installation size issue, they have made incremental progress in the upcoming update by identifying and removing unused assets. However, Armstrong candidly stated that these gains might not be noticeable due to the addition of new content. Looking ahead, Arrowhead aims to enhance the game engine to optimize RAM usage and minimize unnecessary data loading. “Beyond that, the remaining work is a bigger, riskier, more speculative project where we apply some kind of compression to the game data,” he explained.
Armstrong reassured players that their concerns are being taken seriously, but he also acknowledged the complexities involved in finding a solution. “We’ve clearly reached the limits of how much duplicated data is acceptable, so smarter solutions and compromises are now required,” he concluded. The team is committed to striking a better balance between installation size and loading times as they navigate this technical landscape.
