Thin and Mighty: Helldivers 2 Slims Down by 131 GB Without Losing a Thing

Developers of Helldivers 2 have announced a significant reduction in the size of the game client for PC. Players can now free up around 131 gigabytes—almost 85% of the space—without losing any content.

The talented team at Arrowhead Game Studios has been gradually reducing the PC client’s size in their recent updates while simultaneously introducing new content. However, these short-term adjustments weren’t sufficient to accommodate all the new materials, prompting the developers to aim for a PC game size closer to that of the console versions.

With the help of their partners at Nixxes, the team achieved this goal ahead of schedule. The complete removal of duplicate data has cut the game size from roughly 154 gigabytes to just 23 gigabytes—resulting in a save of about 131 gigabytes or 85%. After several rounds of internal testing, the updated version is now available as part of an open technical “beta.”

The positive news regarding the project’s size reduction doesn’t end there. This drastic “liposuction” of Helldivers 2 has had minimal impact on loading times, with only a few seconds difference. The developers were previously concerned that eliminating duplicate data could significantly slow down loading times, drawing from industry benchmarks that predicted up to a fivefold increase. The team even doubled those estimates out of caution.

It turns out that only about 11% of players use mechanical HDDs. Most of the loading time is spent on level generation rather than reading files from the disk. This process occurs simultaneously with asset loading and is the primary factor affecting loading duration, even for those with standard hard drives.

The developers encourage gamers to become early testers of the “slimmed-down” version of the game. Players can currently join the “beta” and assist in testing the optimized build. The only difference from the previous version is the project’s size—the functionality remains unchanged.

All achievements, progress, involvement in the galactic war, and purchases are retained, and matchmaking operates with all players. Participants can opt out of the “beta” at any time if any issues arise. This is a simple way to save approximately 131 gigabytes of disk space while helping developers gather feedback and test the new build in real conditions.

In the future, the “lean” version will become the standard for all players once the open technical “beta” confirms its stability. For a limited time, users can opt to switch back to the old version if desired.

The developers state that the loading time difference between versions is minimal, making it unnecessary to maintain the old build on a permanent basis—doing so would just add extra burden on developers, testers, and internal processes. If all checks are successfully completed, the old version is set to be discontinued next year.