Activision Is Finally Addressing ‘Call of Duty’s Massive Download Sizes By Making ‘Warzone’ Download Optional
Written by djfrosty on August 16, 2024
Source: Activision / Sledgehammer Games / Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Activision is finally addressing the giant elephant in the room regarding Call of Duty: its massive download sizes.
Fans of Call of Duty looking forward to playing the next installment of the iconic first-person shooter must also figure out exactly how they will download the game on their consoles, as the game requires a massive amount of space during installs.
Hopefully, that will no longer be an issue or much easier to solve because Activision is making some changes ahead of the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, so COD games will no longer take up ridiculous amounts of space on your console’s hard drive.
The Verge reports that Activision will now separate Warzone from the default download for the annual titles. Players can expect that change to start on August 21 when Season 5 Reloaded arrives.
So, when you hit the download button, you can opt-in if you want Warzone to be a part of that download.
You will also have the option to download Warzone alone if that’s what you want. Other quality-of-life improvements are also coming with the arrival of Season 5 Reloaded.
Per The Verge:
With Season 5 Reloaded, Activision also says that it is going to rely more on texture streaming, and players will be able to pick between “optimized” (the default) or “minimal” streaming. In mid-October, Activision plans to introduce a new user interface for browsing your Call of Duty games, too.
You Will Be Required To Download A Big Update To Take Advantage of The Reduced Download Size & Other New Features
With that news, Activision admits you will have to download a big update that will be part of Season 5 Reloaded. The update will “reorganize game files and add new tech” to “prep the way for the full player interface.”
Once the update is done, Call of Duty players can expect the game’s footprint on their consoles to be reduced going forward.
With the new update, Activision says that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be a “smaller download at launch than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.”
Hallelujah.
Activision has not shared the specific download size but states the numbers seen on preorder information do not reflect the “download size or disk footprint” for the game.
Some much-needed hard-drive relief.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will hold an upcoming open beta beginning August 30.