Epic shaves off 60GB from Fortnite's PC file size through new optimizations

[Polycount]

In brief: We're living in an age where video game installation sizes are so big that some can't even fit on smaller SSDs anymore -- we're looking at you, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. However, every now and then, a developer manages to optimize their game so well that they actually reduce the file size -- substantially. That's precisely what Epic accomplished with Fortnite today.

For those who haven't been keeping up with Fortnite news, the game recently reached the 90GB download size mark on PC. That still pales in comparison to the likes of Modern Warfare, or even singleplayer PC releases like Red Dead Redemption 2 (which was a whopping 150GB), but it's not insignificant.

Fortunately, as we mentioned a moment ago, Epic has managed to reverse this trend for Fortnite. In a Twitter post published yesterday, the company revealed that, due to "optimizations" on PC, Fortnite's file size is now "over 60GB smaller."

Please note the patch size will be larger than normal on PC (approx. 27 GB). This is to make optimizations on PC resulting in a massively reduced Fortnite file size (over 60 GB smaller), smaller downloads for future patches, and improved loading performance.

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) October 20, 2020

That's a massive file size reduction, and it should lead to faster (and smaller) patch downloads in the future, as well as speedier loading times. Unfortunately, there is a bit of a trade-off -- the most recent patch is significantly bigger than usual, coming in at 27GB in total.

Still, most players will probably be willing to accept a larger patch now if it means smaller patches later. You can download Fortnite for Windows, macOS and Android from TechSpot Downloads.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/87231-epic-shaves-off-60gb-fortnite-pc-file-size.html

 

[Puiu]

That's not a patch, at that size you can safely assume that you are downloading the entire game again and then they delete the old files not needed

 

[MSIGamer]

Quaint. I think I'll call cleaning up my room 'optimizing my living space' from now on.

 

[Kosmoz]

That's not a patch, at that size you can safely assume that you are downloading the entire game again and then they delete the old files not needed

Sure it looks like that, but does it really matter if they managed to reduce 60GB from it's total size?
I don't even care about Fortnite and I think it's amazing what they did... makes me optimistic about future game sizes (next gen made for SSDs) especially those made with Unreal Engine 5.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

This has been long overdue. Ever since the Og titanfall, where EA used the excuse of “faster audio processing” on a source engine game to justify not compressing files, everyone has jumped on the train. With SSDs still being very expensive for 3+ TB, new consoles using them, and data caps not getting any nicer, we need more deva to start compressing things again.

Here’s hoping other companies imitate epic in this regard, the newest COD would use an entire months data cap just for the initial game.

 

[Krackan]

Sure it looks like that, but does it really matter if they managed to reduce 60GB from it's total size?
I don't even care about Fortnite and I think it's amazing what they did... makes me optimistic about future game sizes (next gen made for SSDs) especially those made with Unreal Engine 5.

Let's not give Epic too much praise for taking a break from media drama and cleaning up their 3 old game.

 

[EClyde]

Too sad to be funny

 

[m3diapers]

This is what I call Engineering! Microsh!t really needs to learn about this. MS outlook is almost the same thing when it first came out and this size is unbelievable large now along with the pre-installed mail App on Windows 10. And MS word.

 

[Kosmoz]

Let's not give Epic too much praise for taking a break from media drama and cleaning up their 3 old game.

I do not share your opinion or thinking.

 

[Nobina]

Give credit where credit is due. I bet many game devs could do similar to their oversized games. I don't care about SSD prices, this is just the "right" thing to do. It shows there are standards.

 

[Puiu]

Sure it looks like that, but does it really matter if they managed to reduce 60GB from it's total size?
I don't even care about Fortnite and I think it's amazing what they did... makes me optimistic about future game sizes (next gen made for SSDs) especially those made with Unreal Engine 5.

Neah, they didn't do anything amazing, they just cleaned up a ton of junk that they created over the years (old files from old seasons, duplicate files, etc). For comparison the PS4 version is around 12GB.

There was no reason for the game to grow from sub 20GB to over 90GB since its launch. People were literally complaining since 2019 that they were running out of space to update and play the game and some were taking days to download it.

 

[Ultraman1966]

Maybe Blizzard should learn from this. I just want to play the SP campaign (it'll be uninstalled shortly after) but the game is 170GB because I have to keep warzone components installed. Allowing removal of MP and Coop did claw back 70GB of space but it is still taking the piss.

But yeah, there was no reason for Fortnite to have been anywhere near that size...

 

[Krackan]

I do not share your opinion or thinking.

Clearly sarcasm is lost on you. Do I need to make it blatantly obvious by putting /s?

P.S. Don't really care if you share anything with me, thanks for sharing though?

 

[Markoni35]

You can't shave off that much unless you screwed up royally the first time. It's like saying "We've sped up this algorithm 37 times". That means you really botched it the first time.