The latest in the Call of Duty franchise – Modern Warfare 3 – is notable for taking up a sizeable chunk of hard-drive space. However, publisher Activision has explained why the game requires such storage.
It’s certainly a whopper
In a recent post on X, the official Call of Duty account provides an “update on file sizes which are larger than last year.” According to the statement, the storage requirements for Modern Warfare 3 are larger due to “the increased amount of content available on Day 1.”
This includes support for items that can be carried over from last year’s Modern Warfare 2 to “open world Zombies” and “map files for current Call of Duty: Warzone.”
#MW3 is almost here. In preparation, we would like to provide an update on file sizes which are larger than last year
This is due to the increased amount of content available Day 1, including open world Zombies, support for item carry forward from #MW2, as well as map files…— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) November 2, 2023
However, the post goes on to say that file sizes should be smaller for the final installation, taking “optimization efforts” into account.
So, how big is MW3, then? According to a screenshot under the Twitter thread from user @DANNYonPC, it takes up 171 GB of space on PC. A screenshot compares it to the file sizes of Apex Legends and Battlefield 2042, both of which are significantly smaller.
A quick look at Steam shows that MW3 will require at least 149 GB of SSD storage. The developer says it will be sharing more information as we get closer to the game’s launch on November 10.
Most would expect something like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to take up a hefty amount of hard-drive capacity. However, the fact that the studio has to offer an explanation as to why it requires so much shows that the developer itself acknowledges that it’s quite a sizeable chunk of storage for any gamer.
