The PC community for Helldivers 2 has long lamented the game’s enormous file size; with it reaching nearly 150 gigabytes as of the Into the Unjust update. However, thanks to the efforts of Arrowhead Studios and Nixxes Software, fans playing the game on Steam can now cut down the overall file size of Helldivers 2 to a smaller, two-digit number.
Reducing the Helldivers 2 file size on PC is fairly simple, and it has no effect on the game itself (apart from potentially nuking any mods you may have installed). Here’s how to do it.
Helldivers 2: All Warbonds, Ranked
Here are all of the Warbonds in Helldivers 2, ranked according to practicality to help players figure out which ones to get first.
How to Download the Helldivers 2 Prod Slim Beta
Using the prod_slim beta version of Helldivers 2 is how players can get the game’s massive file size closer to what console players have. To do this, follow these instructions.
- Go to your Steam library.
- Right-click on Helldivers 2
- Select Properties.
- Navigate to the Betas tab.
- Select the available prod_slim version from the Beta Participation selection box.
After doing these steps, Steam will automatically queue a fresh Helldivers 2 download, but you’ll notice that the download size should be somewhere around 9GB. Once the game finishes reinstalling, it will unpack to roughly 22GB.
The Game Broke! What Now?
The prod_slim version is the same Helldivers 2 game that everyone plays across all platforms, which means that everything, from the Warbonds to the ongoing Galactic War developments are still the same for everyone. In the off-chance that switching to the prod_slim version has caused issues for you, you can go back to the default version of the game by following the same steps above and choosing “None” in the Beta Participation box. Yes, you’ll need to reinstall the game again.
What’s the Legacy Version For?
The prod_legacy version is for players who still use an HDD to play Helldivers 2. This version of the game is essentially the current live version of Helldivers 2 that takes up over a hundred gigabytes of space. Once the prod_slim version becomes the default version of the game, the prod_legacy is there for HDD players who want slightly faster loading times.
Why is the Helldivers 2 File Size So Big?
Arrowhead confirmed in a blog post that the PC version of Helldivers 2 uses duplicate files in order to reduce the loading times for PC players still using HDDs for their systems. In all actuality, the total size of all the game’s assets amounts to only ~20GB. Helldivers 2 on PlayStation and Xbox don’t need any of those duplicate files because they are all equipped with SSDs, which are much faster than HDDs.
Thankfully, Arrowhead also said that the actual loading time difference between SSD and HDD players is minimal. HDD users using the prod_slim version should only have to wait for a few extra seconds, as the apparent cause of the game’s long load times is tied to level generation and not asset loading.
