Mortal Kombat 11 File Sizes: Prepare for a Minimum 24 GB Install!

As a fighter gamer excited for Mortal Kombat 11, one of the first things I wondered was – just how big are the install sizes these days?

After digging into the official specs across platforms, the short answer is you‘ll need at least 24 GB free space for the initial download. But from there, the numbers vary wildly depending on your platform and game edition. Let‘s break it down:

Minimum and Recommended Hard Drive Space

Straight from the developer NetherRealm Studios, here are the published minimum and recommended specs for drive space across platforms:

So PC and console gamers should budget at least 24 GB, with 40-60 GB strongly recommended depending on platform. But why does the install size requirement jump so drastically across the different platforms?

Why File Sizes Vary Across Platforms and Editions

In my experience gaming on both console and PC, install sizes can indeed vary wildly even for the same game. This comes down to major differences in:

• Graphics Fidelity: Higher resolution textures, more detailed models, advanced lighting, etc require more drive space. PC has the most headroom here.

• Video Quality: Full HD or even 4K videos take up more room than compressed 720p in-game cutscenes. The PS4 Pro and Xbox One X editions ship with enhanced video.

• Audio Quality: Higher bitrate audio and lossless sound formats occupy increased capacity compared to compressed audio on weaker hardware.

• Game Editions: Special editions like the Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate bundle pack in bonus DLC content which adds to the install size.

• Patches & DLC: Post-launch updates with new characters, costumes, stages, and support for next-gen consoles further bloats the install footprint.

To illustrate how graphics and video boost the file sizes, here‘s a breakdown of the PS4 vs Xbox One install requirements:

The PS4 edition ships higher resolution art assets and 4K video files accounting for the larger install. This shows how the install requirements can substantially change due solely to graphics and video parameters.

Install Sizes Expanding with DLC and Next-Gen Patches

Now what‘s concerning as a gamer is install sizes seem to be ballooning exponentially with each year…

As mentioned, an original baseline install of Mortal Kombat 11 was roughly 35-60 GB depending on your platform. However, with the Aftermath and Ultimate editions bundling in all DLC – the current install footprint has swelled to 80-100+ GB!

Here‘s a snapshot of user reports on the current all-inclusive install sizes:

• Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate (PS5) – 84.21 GB
• Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate (Xbox Series X) – 104 GB

And that‘s before factoring in next-gen specific patches which texture upscaling, ray tracing support, and other visual improvements for new consoles. I fully expect install sizes to breach past 100 GB in the coming months as they optimize for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

As reference, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War now requires 130 GB of free space after installing all content updates!

The Downside for Gamers – Bigger Installs Impact Budgets

Now for players purchasing these enhanced next-gen console editions, having to clear 100+ GB for new titles could get problematic:

• The standard PS5 ships with only 825 GB of usable storage after reserving space for system files and caching. MK11 Ultimate would eat over 10% right off the bat!
• Xbox Series X packs 1 TB drives, but has the same overhead. Big install like MK11 further restrict the number of games you can keep installed at once.
• Both next-gen consoles still require expensive proprietary SSD expansion cards for more capacity. Players need to budget another $200+!

The reality is between backward compatible last-gen titles and new releases with swollen installs, available space on new consoles fills up shockingly fast even with those 1 TB drives.

Having recently upgraded to the Xbox Series X myself, I‘ve already had to invest in the expansion card to keep my game library installed due to these massive 100 GB+ file sizes!

Final Thoughts

While enhanced visuals and extra content justify some of these +100 GB install footprints for next-gen MK11 editions, the actual rate studios inflate game sizes does seem concerning as a player.

With game publishers focused on adding visually flashy but storage-intensive features each year, install sizes could easily snowball out of control this coming generation.

Here‘s hoping developers also invest in optimizing compression and cutting redundant data to help curb out of control install bloat! Even with those ultra-fast SSDs, having to regularly shuffle 100 GB games on and off precious internal storage gets tiring fast.

At the minimum for Mortal Kombat 11 specifically though, be prepared to budget at least 24 GB for initial installation, and up to 100 GB+ down the road!

Let me know what you think of these expanding game install sizes in the comments – is it becoming a pain to manage? Or just the cost us enthusiasts pay for cutting edge blockbuster games each year?