Moving Your Game Library to a New Drive Just Got Easier
As a passionate gamer with over 2TB of games in my personal library, I‘ve had to get creative when it comes to managing installations across multiple hard drives. So if you‘ve ever wondered exactly how to move those gigantic modern game folders around to free up space or better organize your collection, this guide is for you!
Getting Started: How to Easily Move EA Desktop Games to a New Drive
When it comes to keeping AAA titles up to date in 2024, storage space comes at a premium. Here‘s the quick rundown for shifting your EA Desktop games to a new home:
- Fully close out EA Desktop and end associated background services
- Find your EA Games folder (default location is
C:\Program Files (x86)\EA Games) - Select the game(s) you want to relocate and cut+paste the folder(s) elsewhere
- In EA Desktop settings, update the default install location to the new drive
- Launch game – your files now run from the new location!
It‘s really that simple on a basic level. But let‘s dive deeper into optimizing your gaming storage setup and smoothly transferring those precious save files…
The Need for Gaming Storage Speed and Space Continues to Grow
With blockbuster titles like Call of Duty now requiring 175+ GB per install and GPUs fast enough to benefit from blistering fast NVMe SSDs, gaming has pushed PC storage needs to the bleeding edge.
| Year | Average Game Install Size |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 4-8 GB |
| 2015 | 15-30 GB |
| 2020 | 70-100 GB |
| 2023 | 100-200+ GB |
Downloading these massive modern games sucks up bandwidth – not to mention drive space! Plus, with 4K textures and hyper-detailed graphics continuing to balloon storage footprints, don‘t expect install sizes to slim down anytime soon.
But for us gaming die-hards chasing extreme frame rates, buttery smooth gameplay, and barely perceptible load times, having enough speedy space for our favorite frag fests is a must!
Where You Install Games Impacts Performance – Here‘s How Different Drives Compare
For the best possible gaming experience, you‘ll want to store installs on one of your fastest drives – usually a cutting edge NVMe SSD.
| Drive Type | Read Speed Example | Game Loading Impact |
|---|---|---|
| HDD (Hard Disk Drive) | 100 MB/s | Long load times, texture/object pop-in |
| SATA SSD | 550 MB/s | Faster than HDD, but can‘t fully remove loading lag |
| NVMe SSD | 3500+ MB/s | Blazing fast – scenes load instantly & game assets stream seamlessly! 😍 |
Source: Tom‘s Hardware Game Load Time Comparisons
An NVMe like the Samsung 980 Pro offers up to 7x faster read performance compared to traditional hard drives – letting you boot games in seconds and providing a supremely responsive experience.
So if you haven‘t already, migrating your gaming library to an NVMe SSD is definitely worth considering!
How To Move Your Games to a New Drive on Major Gaming Platforms
Thankfully, most popular gaming platforms make shifting your installed games to another drive fairly straightforward:
Origin/EA Desktop
As outlined earlier, for EA Desktop just cut+paste the game folder to the new location then update the Game Installs Location path in settings to complete the transfer.
Steam
Steam‘s Stream Library Folders feature lets you house games on multiple drives. Pick the new destination, move the game folder over, then use the Move Install Folder option enable it.
Epic Games Launcher
On Epic, first uninstall the game. This removes the old folder while still tracking the game entitlement on your account. Then upon reinstalling, you can choose the new destination drive.
Blizzard/Battle.net
Similar to Epic, first uninstall then reinstall elsewhere. Just be sure your Blizzard username remains authorized on the machine so it recognizes your game licenses.
For visual guides on moving games in most major gaming platforms, check out PCGuide‘s excellent walkthroughs here.
Still Stuck? Advanced Troubleshooting If Games Won‘t Launch After Moving
Despite the convenience of modern game clients, I‘ve still encountered stubborn launches issues after relocating some of my many terabytes of installed titles.
Here are a few things to check if a game repeatedly crashes or fails to open properly from its new home:
- Verify all accompanying launcher apps also point to the new game folder location
- Re-run any registry cleaners/CCleaner to wipe orphaned game path links
- Completely uninstall then fresh install game on target drive
- Temporarily disable antivirus – overzealous virus scanners sometimes block game executables
- Try updating graphics drivers and double check GPU/CPU compatibility
Also remember that many game saves live outside the core game install folder! So if critical save files don‘t carry over on a platform like Steam, reconnect cloud storage or manually transfer the save folder itself over to the new drive as well.
Protect Your Gaming Progress! Manage Game Saves Seamlessly During Transfers
Nothing stings worse than losing 100+ hours of gameplay progress due to a lost or corrupted save file.
Thankfully, many of today‘s cross-platform titles intelligently store progress in the cloud – seamlessly syncing your precious unlocks and accomplishments across devices.
For example, epic hits like Cyberpunk 2077 and Ubisoft‘s Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla securely retain full save states via:
- Epic Games – Offers unlimited cloud storage for sync saves across any linked PCs
- Ubisoft Connect – Automatically uploads progress online for games like AC Valhalla
So you generally have nothing to worry about when moving these titles‘ hefty installations around!
However, the legacy Witcher III and certain indie games still rely on local file saves. Before swapping drives, I‘d strongly recommend manually backing up any critical game progress not already cloud synced.
Most save data parks in your user profile folders by default (e.g. Documents\The Witcher III). But if unsure, check the save game location listed under properties in GOG Galaxy or the Steam interface prior to any file migration.
The Future Remains Bright for Gaming Storage Innovation!
I don‘t know about you, but juggling massive triple-A titles across a multi-terabyte SSD game library brings me joy. And thanks to continual hardware advancements, both next-gen consoles and gaming PCs can look forward to even faster load times and more room for expanding libraries in the years ahead!
For example, the impending rollout of blistering PCIe 5.0 NVMe Gen 5 drives this year promises nearly 3x the raw throughput compared to already blazing fast Gen 4 models. I for one can‘t wait to rebuild my rig to harness 50GB/s transfer speeds! 😁
Additionally, DirectStorage optimized for Windows 11 aims to revolutionize behind the scenes game asset streaming and decompression – helping huge open world titles realize their full potential on capable gaming PCs.
But those tantalizing tech teasers are topics for another guide! For now, be sure move your games to the fastest modern drive possible and get ready for the exciting future of gaming.
Let me know if have any other tips for seamlessly juggling today‘s ever-growing game installs across multiple drives! Happy gaming!
