Games are too big

[SwimOdin]

I don't mean large as in playtime or size.  Nah, file size.  This shit is crazy! Most modern AAA games coming in well over 100 GB.  I recently bought a 4TB HDD and I thought I'd be set.  Then I realized...that's only like 40 games.  That's stupid!  Can they not be optimized a little?  I know HD/4K textures take up a lotta space, but is there no way to crush this down?

[Greeny]

There was somewhat of a conspiracy theory a few years ago that claimed publishers were keeping their file sizes large so people would keep their games installed. This was to both increase the amount of time people spent playing those games, and to also take up space on drives so people would download fewer competitor's games. Personally, I wouldn't put it past them.

[SwimOdin]

1 hour ago, Greeny said:

There was somewhat of a conspiracy theory a few years ago that claimed publishers were keeping their file sizes large so people would keep their games installed. This was to both increase the amount of time people spent playing those games, and to also take up space on drives so people would download fewer competitor's games. Personally, I wouldn't put it past them.

I could see that.  The industry does have a problem* that people are playing fewer games for a longer amount of time.

 

*it's a problem for shareholders (and arguably the industry at large), not necessarily gamers

[Raptorpat]

I always assumed it was an efficiency thing. Once it wasn't a necessity to minimize the amount of space a game takes up, developers just forgot how to even try.