Images can be heavily compressed-as with jpgs-but artifacting would be noticable. Like video, textures are increasing in resolution, except unlike video they aren't fond of being compressed. One element does check all the boxes for exponential growth: textures. So while high-quality audio and high-resolution video have helped bulk up games, they alone can't account for the leaps in size we've taken since 2000.
"1500x compression factors are not unheard of," says Stardock lead developer Nathan Hanish, pointing to the H.264 codec. Video, on the other hand, has broadly increased in resolution-from 640x480 cutscenes way back when all the way up to 4K-which has notably increased its footprint on game sizes. We expect voiced characters and high fidelity audio far more than we once did. The use of 5.1 surround sound audio over mono or stereo audio has been one reason games are getting bigger, but the simple inclusion of more audio has probably had a greater effect. The upper limit of game sizes is only going to increase. After speaking to a few game developers, I can say confidently that the former isn't going to happen.
Broadband Now has catalogued 210 internet service providers that impose data caps.įor PC gaming to get better for those with poor internet service, either games will have to get smaller (or at least stop growing), or our selection of ISPs will have to get better, providing quality, uncapped service to more customers. It's especially bad for those stuck with data caps, a maximum data allotment per month that, if exceeded, results in extra charges. That's causing grief for players who don't have access to speedy internet connections, or who haven't recently upgraded their storage in a pricey SSD market. That's resulted in 100GB-plus games that wouldn't even fit on a Blu-ray disc, never mind a dual-layer DVD. Games were allowed to grow, and grow, constrained only by users' bandwidth and hard drive space. Steam launched around the same time, and as broadband snaked further into the suburbs and beyond, no physical medium could keep up with downloading. Game sizes have always been limited by their delivery medium-Myst was famously made possible by the introduction of the CD-ROM drive-but in 2004, when dual-layer DVDs were introduced, it was already too late for the PC game shelves at retailers.