- Following a mysterious update, Call of Duty HQ's file size on PS5 is being slashed by over 100 GB.
- The launcher's size will be reduced to just over 26 GB from a previous high of 126 GB.
- It's unclear what Call of Duty HQ's file size will look like on Xbox consoles.
Call of Duty HQ, which serves as the launcher for the latest entries in the franchise, is known for its abysmally large file size. Regardless of the platform, the launcher can easily hog upwards of 100 GB in disk space even if you only have Warzone installed. To everyone’s surprise, Activision are all set to decrease that figure dramatically via a mysterious update.
Call of Duty’s unified launcher went live back in 2022 with the release of Modern Warfare II. It has since been the centralized hub for the franchise, being the access point for Modern Warfare (2019), Vanguard (2021), and 2024’s Black Ops 6, to name a few. CoD HQ by itself can be a real burden on hard drives, and once you stack on top the hefty sizes of individual games, the total disk consumption can easily amount to 150 GB.
Fans have been demanding a decrease in that figure for ages, with little to no avail. But based on details surrounding an upcoming PS5 update, it looks like Activision have finally learned the art of file compression.
Call of Duty HQ Slashes File Size, Bringing it Closer to Battlefield 6
As revealed by the ‘PlayStation Game Size’ account on X, the 01.080.000 update for the Call of Duty launcher will bring the game’s PS5 file size down to just 25.377 GB. The previous figure sat at 126.224 GB, marking a 100+ GB reduction, which is baffling, to say the least. Its last-gen version will also see a decrease, going from 81 GB to 62 GB on the PS4. How the game will weigh on Xbox machines is unconfirmed as of now, but there should be significant changes on Microsoft’s platform as well.
So what has brought about this change? Well, it’s impossible to say for sure. Just yesterday, widespread outages were reported across nearly every active Call of Duty title, causing plenty of confusion within the community. These issues have now been fixed, but perhaps the games were brought offline to implement this change? This is purely speculative, of course.
Another theory gaining traction online has to do with Battlefield 6. The upcoming title is confirmed to have a file size of around 60 GB, which is drastically better than Call of Duty HQ’s pre-update size. According to fans, this discrepancy is yet another feather in Battlefield’s hat, and could potentially divert players to EA’s shooter. So, in response, Activision have implemented a long overdue size reduction, and made things much more reasonable. Again, this is purely speculative as well.
With all that being said? Are you happy to finally see its file size go down? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
