Arrowhead Game Studios reportedly looking into lowering Helldivers 2’s file size on PC
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Key points
- Arrowhead Game Studios is reportedly looking into lowering Helldivers 2’s file size on PC by ending HDD support.
- The game’s file size on consoles is only around 30 GB.
- The main reason why Helldivers 2’s PC version has a large file size is due to data duplication.
On Oct. 28, 2025, a message from Arrowhead Game Studios’ Shams Jorjani in the Helldivers 2 Discord server stated that the team is currently looking for ways to decrease the game’s file size on PC, which includes ending support for PCs that still use HDDs.
For context, Helldivers 2’s file size on Steam is a massive 150 GB, compared to its PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S counterparts, which are just around 30 GB. The developers touched on this issue earlier this month.
According to Arrowhead Game Studios, the main reason why the PC version of the game has a huge file size is due to “data duplication.” This is an optimization technique that game developers use to shorten loading times of the game for those who use HDDs.
Data duplication is when developers duplicate certain data files and place them in the HDD. Since that duplicated data also takes space in the HDD, it will then double or even triple the amount of space that it occupies.
While the easiest way out of this ballooning Helldivers 2 space conundrum is dropping support for HDDs, the developers showed concern about this method, saying that they have no data on how many players are still using HDDs. If there are still a lot of them out there, killing the support would mean that those players will not be able to play the game anymore. Based on the developer’s estimates, around 12% of all PC gamers still use HDDs.
