Breaking News: Helldivers 2 Drops Weight Like a Champion!
In a twist that no one saw coming (except for everyone who’s been following this saga), the high-flying crew at Arrowhead Game Studios has unveiled that the hefty Helldivers 2 PC install size is about to drop faster than an anvil in a cartoon. Yes, folks, it’s going from a whopping 154 GB – which is basically the equivalent of a small library’s worth of data – to a mere 23 GB!
This miraculous feat is courtesy of the brainy tech whiz Brendan Armstrong, deputy technical director and likely someone who’s had way too much caffeine. He shared this thrilling discovery on Steam, because where else would one announce such monumental news? Who needs a magazine cover when there’s sharing platforms?
For Those Still Clinging to Their HDDs
But why the fat install size, you ask? Ah, fret not—Armstrong gave a lengthy TED Talk about this in October. The culprit? Old-school mechanical hard disk drives, or HDDs. Apparently, they need all the help they can get. Armstrong explained that duplicating assets, like sounds of trees rustling (or possibly trees complaining), helps those trying to yank data from the dinosaur-sized drives without losing their minds to loading screens.
Unlike the cutting-edge solid-state drives (SSDs), which are faster than a cheetah on roller skates, HDDs are stuck plodding along, needing data pinned and duplicated everywhere like loo rolls in a pandemic. Consequently, this bloated size was not just a choice but a desperate effort to make sure players can jump into the action without waiting for their HDDs to catch their breath.
But Wait, There’s More!
Now, after a fateful partnership with the Dutch porting whizzes over at Nixxes, the data gurus have discovered that not all was lost. Armstrong shared the joyous news that the install size has been cut down to roughly 17% of its former size, proving that a little tech wizardry can work wonders. Mysteriously, loading times for HDD users have only blown up by “a few seconds.” Any experienced gamer knows that “a few seconds” can mean the difference between bliss and throwing one’s controller across the room.
“‘Hold on a sec,’ readers might exclaim – ‘didn’t you just tell us about all the data duplication because loading times on HDDs could be a nightmare?’” Armstrong cheekily raised this question, with more sass than a reality show contestant. Thankfully, the worst-case scenarios predicted weren’t as severe as anticipated. Thanks to some precise number-crunching, it turns out that the majority of loading time comes from level-generation, not from the joy of staring at trees.
Beta Testing for the Brave
Now for the brave-hearted who want to partake in this technological marvel: a public beta is available for download. This is like being a test pilot but for video games instead of planes. Players can help ensure that the new, streamlined version doesn’t crash harder than a kid learning to ride a bike.
And here’s the kicker: players are still part of the same galactic chaos, using the same account, progression, and currency. So fear not! Players can still join hands and blow things up collectively, no matter how slim their install is. Anyone who feels faint-hearted can back out at any moment—no shame in that game!
The Final Countdown—Sort Of
Once sufficient time passes, and the public beta confidently struts about proving there are absolutely no gremlins lurking in the code, the leaner version will be unleashed for all to enjoy. Just a reminder: for those who like their mods spicy, it might be wise to stick with the hefty version until everything is smoothed out. It’s a wild ride in the world of Helldivers 2—it’s like space war paint but with code!
