These days, install sizes are getting increasingly ridiculous. For most gamers, we’re lucky if we can fit five games on a PS5 or Xbox Series X. For PC players, well, get ready to invest in some SDDs because games are just enormous when you consider all the space they take up in their base form. There are also numerous updates and patches you’ll have to deal with. They’re only getting bigger as graphics and content get better, so we have no choice but to grit our teeth and hope our storage space can handle it. We’ve got another entry to this list in Starfield coming shortly, so here are the top 10 biggest games ever.
Top 10 Biggest Games Ever, Ranked By Install Size
The storage size of games isn’t necessarily an indicator of the content within. Funnily enough, some of these games are incredibly short experiences that require storage for intensive graphics, while others are massive but more so because of the content. It’s quite the varied bag here, so let’s check them out.
10. Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition 100 GB
Final Fantasy XV was one of the most hyped games in the last decade, with enough gameplay to keep you busy for 80 hours. The game is pretty massive on a console, but on a PC, the storage size requirement gets truly outrageous. Due to it being the complete edition of the game with the three main DLCs, the PC release requires 100+ GB to download. Don’t worry; you’ll be getting a ton of content here and find yourself busy for quite a while. However, due to the 4K resolution packs, updates, multiplayer content, and DLCs, this edition of the game is a huge experience that requires plenty of space to play.
9. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition 120 GB
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition isn’t exactly a single title, as it compiles three games in one package. Each entry of the original Mass Effect trilogy is a staggeringly huge experience. Mass Effect releases you into the galaxy to unravel a mystery, exploring entire planets and making contact with various alien races on a mission to stop a rogue Spectre agent. Mass Effect 2 condenses the experience exploration-wise and instead gives you tons of smaller missions that add up to even more playtime than the original. It all concludes with Mass Effect 3, which can easily take you upwards of 60 hours to finish the main story. Add to this all of the DLCs for the respective games, and you’ve got one massive gaming experience that will send your hard drive into a fit but will be well worth it.
8. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla 130 GB+
Since 2017, all of the Assassin’s Creed games have been truly gargantuan in terms of their install sizes. The biggest is the latest entry, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. The graphics in Valhalla are some of the best you’ll find, and the cutscenes and set pieces put most movies and TV shows to shame. If you want to give this one a shot, you’ll need 130 GB. Be ready for consistent patches and updates along the way. You also have three huge DLCs you can add on if you’d like, making the total requirement for this game nearly 170 GB. It’s the only true Viking game out there, so it’s definitely worth the space.
7. Jedi Survivor 155 GB
Jedi Surivor boasts jaw-dropping graphics, tight combat, and some impressive voice acting to create one of the best Star Wars games of all time. Content-wise, you’re looking at 20 or so hours for the story and 50 if you want to do everything. It’s not as much content as you’d expect for a game of this install size, but consider that Jedi Survivor is rendering massive planets with countless areas to explore. Overall, it’s a can’t-miss Star Wars experience.
6. Red Dead Redemption 2 150+ GB
Red Dead Redemption 2 is another stunningly gorgeous title that gives us a sprawling view of the Wild West with the most impressive dynamic world of all time. Everything takes a real amount of time in this game. You can live a full cowboy’s life inside Red Dead Redemption 2, complete with eating, sleeping, and bathing. This is one of those games that earn their install size, and you shouldn’t think twice about it.
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II 125+
Call of Duty is a yearly franchise, but it’s quite the task to keep more than one installed at a time. While it’s listed as 125GB on Steam for PC, the actual size is far, far bigger. If you factor in Call of Duty: Warzone to this one, it is a ridiculous 250 GB. Inside that game storage size is a great singleplayer campaign, and tons of multiplayer content. It’s one of the most popular games on earth, but a huge commitment storage wise.
4. Forspoken- 150+
Forspoken gives you a gorgeous game world to explore in the land of Athia, and you get free reign to venture where you wish with the use of Frey’s extraordinary parkour powers. There is a ton of story and side content that can make the total experience around 55 hours, making this huge install size make a bit more sense. There is plenty of fun combat at times, but the enemy variety, plot, and tone really betray what could’ve been a special experience here.
3. Quantum Break 178 GB
One of the more underrated games in Remedy’s impressive list of games is, without a doubt, Quantum Break. This is a mission-based game that combines time travel, superpowers, and all kinds of sci-fi intrigue. Where that crazy storage requirement comes in is due to the TV show aspect of the game. You get entire TV episodes here to view if you’d like. They are more or less mandatory if you want to understand the story. Still, they are generally well-acted, well-written, and worth the watch.
2. Destiny 2 + All DLCS 233 GB
With Destiny 2 on its own, you require 100 GB for the install size. However, once you start adding on all of the DLCs, which are the only way to continue the story after the campaign, you are looking at an entirely different beast. Destiny 2 has 150+ hours of content to explore and multiplayer PvP content, and it’s one of the most content-packed games out there.
1. Ark: Survival Evolved 400 GB
On the Steam page, it says Ark: Survival Evolved requires a download of 60 GB in game storage size. That may be true, but there have been tons of add-ons since the game came out in 2017. Because of that, the storage requirement is an absolutely baffling 400 GB. Thankfully, inside that amount of space is one of the more fascinating game worlds of all time. That 400 GB requirement is supported by literally thousands of hours of gameplay. You can get lost in Ark: Survival Evolved more than any other game in the survival genre. It’s a commitment for your hard drive and your gaming life, but one that many players are in love with.
