How much storage do twelve big games need?
Download size is the question nobody asks until the progress bar stops. Here are the official figures for our twelve games, and what to do when the drive fills up.
The list, largest first
| Game | PC install | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Baldur's Gate 3 | 150 GB | SSD required on PC and Mac; the largest install on our list. |
| Final Fantasy XIV | 140 GB | 140 GB on PC and Mac; 90 GB on PS5, 150 GB on Xbox, 120 GB on Switch 2. |
| Apex Legends | 75 GB | Plus about 3.8 GB for each extra language; the Switch 2 download is 92.5 GB. |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 70 GB | SSD required; the Mac version needs 92 GB. |
| Marvel Rivals | 70 GB | An August 2026 patch cut the PC install by about 30%; the high-resolution texture pack is optional. |
| Dota 2 | 60 GB | Same 60 GB on Windows, Mac and Linux. |
| Fortnite | 60 GB | Epic gives no official figure; the Windows store package lists up to about 60 GB. An NVMe SSD is recommended. |
| Elden Ring | 60 GB | No SSD requirement listed; the Switch 2 edition is 41 GB. |
| VALORANT | 50 GB | Riot gives no official figure; the Xbox listing shows about 50 GB. |
| Helldivers 2 | 23 GB | The PC install shrank from about 154 GB to about 23 GB in 2025; Steam still lists older figures. |
| Minecraft | 4 GB | Bedrock needs 4 GB and Java 2 GB; worlds and add-ons grow over time. |
| Stardew Valley | 500 MB | About 500 MB on PC; 1.6 GB on Xbox. |
| All twelve | 762.5 GB | Before updates, mods and shader caches. |
Sizes are the storage lines in each publisher's PC requirements. Console sizes differ, updates add to them over time, and live games grow with every season.
On a PC
Put big games on a solid-state drive. Several of our twelve list an SSD as a requirement, and even the ones that do not load and stream their worlds far better from one. If space is tight, keep the games you play weekly installed and move the rest: Steam can shift an installed game to another drive without downloading it again, and most other launchers can find a game folder you have moved yourself.
On consoles
- PlayStation 5. Takes a standard M.2 NVMe drive in its internal expansion bay. A USB drive can store PS5 games and play PS4 games, but PS5 games must be copied back to fast storage to play.
- Xbox Series X|S. Uses official storage expansion cards that plug into the back and behave like the internal drive. USB drives can hold Series games and play older Xbox games.
- Nintendo Switch 2. Adds storage with microSD Express cards only; ordinary microSD cards can hold screenshots but not Switch 2 games.
Phones
Mobile versions download extra data after installing, often several gigabytes more than the app store listing suggests. Check free space before the first launch, ideally on Wi-Fi.