This week's Call of Duty: Warzone update weighs in at up to 57.8GB

But it reduces the overall file size by over 10GB.

News by Wesley Yin-Poole Former Editor-in-Chief

Updated on 29 Mar 2021

Call of Duty: Warzone gets a mid-season update this week that reduces the overall install footprint of the game - but it comes only after an enormous download.

Season Two Reloaded creates a lower, optimised file size across Warzone. If you own the full version of Modern Warfare and Warzone, or if you own the free-to-play Warzone on its own, you'll see the overall file size footprint reduced, Activision said.

This is particularly welcome given how much space the recent Call of Duty games take up. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone have a reputation for enormous update downloads and massive install footprints, which we've reported on in the past. It got so bad that in February, Activision warned a standard 500GB PlayStation 4 may no longer fit Call of Duty: Warzone, Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare.

"Enhancements to the overall content management system have been made possible through data optimisation and streamlining content packs needed for individual game modes," Activision said.

This reduced file size will come after "a larger than usual, one-time update" for Season Two Reloaded, Activision warned. This update includes these optimisations and is necessary to reduce the overall footprint, the company insisted. Hopefully it'll be worth it though - Activision said future patch sizes for Modern Warfare and Warzone are expected to be smaller than the one released this week.

"Along with the ability to remove individual modes that are no longer played, owners of the full Modern Warfare experience will see more space freed on their platform of choice," Activision said.

"However, those who want to continue playing Campaign, Multiplayer, and/or Special Ops will need to reinstall the optimised Content Packs, which will be released alongside and shortly after the Season Two Reloaded update."

Following the update, the Warzone file size will be reduced by between 10.9GB and 14.2GB, and the Modern Warfare/Warzone file size will be reduced by between 30.6GB and 33.6GB, depending on your platform.

Here's the breakdown of the reduction in file size:

PlayStation 5: 10.9GB (Warzone only) / 30.6GB (Warzone and Modern Warfare)
PlayStation 4: 10.9GB (Warzone only) / 30.6GB (Warzone and Modern Warfare)
Xbox Series X / Xbox Series S: 14.2GB (Warzone only) / 33.6GB (Warzone and Modern Warfare)
Xbox One: 14.2GB (Warzone only) / 33.6GB (Warzone and Modern Warfare)
PC: 11.8GB (Warzone only) / 30.6GB (Warzone and Modern Warfare)

Yes, annoyingly if you just want to play Modern Warfare you still have to have Warzone installed. In October, Infinity Ward production director Paul Haile said Warzone cannot be uninstalled from Modern Warfare because "that's where all the shared data is stored for weapons/operators/etc. that are needed for all modes. The only Warzone specific data that gets pulled along is the map and it's not that much data compared to all the weapons and operators".

"In other words: you would not save much space at all by uninstalling Warzone but still needing all the data for MP."

On to the dreaded Season Two Reloaded update file sizes. Brace yourself: these are massive!

The Season Two Reloaded update will have a download size of approximately 7.4 - 14.18GB for owners of the full version of Black Ops Cold War, and 52.0 - 57.8GB for owners of the free-to-play Warzone, who are up-to-date with the latest updates on either (or both) games.

Activision reiterated the Warzone download is a larger file size due to the optimisation of data, but weighing in at nearly 60GB is pretty extreme.

Here's the breakdown:

Black Ops Cold War update sizes: