Shrink Your PC Install from 154GB to 23GB Helldivers 2 Update
Arrowhead Game Studios has implemented a very significant technical update for Helldivers 2 PC, hand-in-hand with one of the more fearful storage knights wielded by the community an overflowing hard disk. Starting with this update to the new public beta branch, players can now plug and reload the game onto hard drives, greatly minimizing how much actual storage space is used without sacrificing content or progression.
Unbelievable Storage Savings from De-duplication
By working with porting experts Nixxes, the development team has put into place a full data de-duplication process. The game has had to maintain double copies of assets to equip slower mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) for faster loading. With new optimizations, however, the above condition is no longer true.
The results of this optimization are staggering
- Original Size: Around 154GB
- New Slim Size: Approximately 23GB
- Total Space Saved: ~131GB (an 85% reduction)
Loading Time
The developers answered the question. The question basically concerned removing duplicate data and its impact on loading time, especially for players who still have an HDD. It's not a deal-breaker for the developers.
Internal testing suggests that that the loading time for Helldivers 2 is more concerned with the procedural generation of levels than the loading of assets. So, even for the 11% of the current player base who are still using mechanical drives, mission loading times will increase by only a few seconds under worst-case conditions.
How to Get the Slim Version
This reduction in file size will presently be available through a public technical beta. It's going to fully run alongside the game as standard for matchmaking with other players and have your save data and war contributions carried over completely.
Here's how you get the leaner version
- Open your Steam Library.
- Right-click on HELLDIVERS 2 and select Properties.
- Select the Betas tab on the left side.
- In the "Beta Participation" dropdown menu, select prod_slim.
- You may close the window and allow the download of the update.
Note to Modders Joining this beta will require a fresh install as all your mods will likely break the game.
Future Plans
Once all these beta tests are over, and stability has been ensured, this will then be the default usage of "Slim" for all PC players; next year, the developers will take down the huge legacy version, facilitating the development and quality assurance process for testing.
