How Long Do PS4 Games Take to Install? A Detailed Look
As an avid PlayStation gamer since the PS1 days, one of my biggest pet peeves is waiting for games to download and install. Those agonizing minutes staring at the progress bar creeping forward at a snail‘s pace. Well friends, let this guide serve as your beacon of hope!
Below I‘ve compiled extensive research and my own hard-earned wisdom to give you a clearer picture of PlayStation 4 game installation times. Read on to learn what speed you can expect, why installs take so long, and how to slash your wait times to get gaming faster!
What Determines PS4 Installation Time?
I‘ll start by listing the key factors that decide how quickly your shiny new games get set up on your PS4:
Internet Connection Speed
This is the single biggest factor by far. For huge 50GB+ downloads, a blazing fast fiber optic or cable connection will be many times faster than sluggish DSL. Check your provider speeds – higher is better for gaming downloads!
Recommended Minimum Speed for PS4 Gaming: 3-4 Mbps download
Game File Size
On average, PS4 game file sizes range from 15GB to an enormous 100GB! Bigger games equal longer installs, it‘s as simple as that. Below is a breakdown:
- Indie/Retro Games – 1-5 GB
- Average PS4 Games – 15-50 GB
- Huge AAA Games – 50-100+ GB
Console Power State
Believe it or not, keeping your PS4 powered on can actually slow down installations versus using Rest Mode. Rest mode pauses your gameplay but keeps network connections alive to focus on downloading in the background.
Storage Drive Speed
Your PS4‘s hard drive read/write speed becomes a factor once a game is downloaded, as the console needs to unpack and install all the game data to the hard drive. Standard PS4 hard drives are slow, so upgrading to an SSD or hybrid SSHD will significantly speed up installs.
Estimated PS4 Install Times
Now let‘s get into the nitty gritty of predicting how long an average PS4 game installation will take from the initial download to fully playable.
I put together these tables to give you a general ballpark based on the main factors I discussed above – internet speed and game file size. Keep in mind these are for a standard PS4 with no hard drive upgrade, using Rest Mode.
Based On Internet Speed
| Internet Connection | 50GB Game Install | 100GB Game Install |
|---|---|---|
| Dial-Up | Days! | Over a week! |
| DSL/Cellular (3 Mbps) | 6 – 8 hours | 14 – 18 hours |
| Cable (25 Mbps) | 80 – 100 minutes | 160 – 200 minutes |
| Fiber Optic (100 Mbps) | 35 – 45 minutes | 60 – 80 minutes |
As you can see, a super fast 100 Mbps fiber connection can install a huge 100GB game in around 1 hour! While dial-up internet from the 90s would literally take days for one game.
Based on Game File Size
| Game File Size | Install at 3 Mbps | Install at 100 Mbps |
|---|---|---|
| 5GB | 60 minutes | 15 minutes |
| 20GB | 3 hours | 45 minutes |
| 60GB | 9 hours | 90 minutes |
| 100GB | 15 hours | 2 hours |
So for the average PS4 owner with cable internet, you can expect a standard 30-50GB AAA title to take between 2-5 hours from clicking download to actually playing.
As you can imagine, launch days for big online shooters like Call of Duty with millions trying to install 50+ GB at once put Sony‘s servers in meltdown mode. Thankfully the infrastructure has improved greatly since the PS3 era!
Why Do PS4 Game Installations Take So Long?
If you‘ve made it this far, you might be wondering why the PS4 installation process seems so slow compared to simple file copying on a PC. Here are the key reasons:
Verifying All Game Assets – The PS4 doesn‘t just download the game files, it actually audits every single asset like textures and audio clips to check for corruption.
Firmware Updates – Many new releases require system firmware updates to support new features, tacking on extra installation time. Always stay updated!
Optimizing Data – Games are compressed to reduce download sizes. The PS4 then needs to unpack and properly organize all the files on your hard drive before playing.
When you understand what‘s happening under the hood, it makes sense why installations aren‘t as straightforward as just downloading. The process ensures every game runs perfectly and has the latest patches before playing.
Tips for Faster PS4 Game Installations
While PS4 installation speeds will never rival copying files on a high-end gaming PC, there are still various tricks you can try to optimize the process:
- Stop any downloads before starting a new one
- Pause installations if playing online games
- Use a wired internet connection instead of WiFi
- Put your PS4 into Rest Mode
- Close any other running applications
- Upgrade to a solid state hybrid drive (SSHD)
PS4 Installation Time vs Other Platforms
Compared to other modern consoles, the standard PS4‘s hard drive and installation process causes slightly slower installation and loading times than its main competitor, the Xbox One.
However, the PS5 with its ultra-fast solid state drive is capable of installing some games in mere seconds! Truly next-gen stuff.
Physical Discs vs Digital Downloads
You might be wondering if choosing physical game discs over digital downloads leads to any difference in installation times.
In my experience, once the initial disc verification step is complete, the installation time is comparable to downloading digitally since some games still require large patches and data. Digital also eliminates the need to swap discs!
So in summary, a typical AAA PS4 game around 30-50GB will install:
- In 1-2 hours with extremely fast 100+ Mbps fiber internet
- In 3-6 hours for most cable internet users
- In 8+ hours with slow DSL or cellular data connections
Bigger games like Red Dead Redemption 2 above 90GB could even take 15+ hours fully install with weaker internet speeds!
I hope this guide gave you a detailed idea of what to expect so you can plan your game installations accordingly. Let me know in the comments if you have any other PS4 installation questions!
Happy gaming my friends! May your downloads be swift and lag-free.
