Why Borderlands 3 Requires a Beefy 75GB Storage Capacity
Let‘s kick things off by directly answering why Gearbox Software‘s latest loot-filled first-person shooter has such a staggering storage requirement – it predominantly comes down to much higher resolution 2D and 3D art assets compared to previous Borderlands entries.
As one of the most visually-impressive and content-rich titles in the franchise yet, Borderlands 3 unsurprisingly requires some serious drive space. Let‘s break down the exact composition of the 75GB footprint and how it stacks up to other behemoth modern game installs.
1. Higher Resolution Textures Balloon Install Size
The highest-contributing factor to Borderlands 3‘s ample storage requirements are vastly improved texture resolution over Borderlands 1 and 2. Enormous texture packs comprise a significant 30GB chunk of the overall install – that‘s over a third of the total 75GB!
| Game | Max Texture Resolution |
|---|---|
| Borderlands 1 | 2K |
| Borderlands 2 | 2K |
| Borderlands 3 | 8K |
As highlighted in this table, Borderlands 3 maxes out at staggering 8K resolution for textures. That‘s a 16x jump over the previous 2K limit! Naturally this means much more storage is needed for the more detailed asset files.
This ties directly into Borderlands 3‘s most immediately obvious graphical enhancement – environment textures like stone or metal that are mind-bogglingly crisp, rivaling pre-rendered CGI at times.
2. CD-Quality Audio Inflates Install Requirements
The other leading contributor to Borderlands 3‘s impressive install dimensions is the boosted audio fidelity. The audio data comprises around 15GB, or 20% of the total game size.
The jump in quality here is just as severe – previous games used compressed MP3 quality audio, while BL3 uses uncompressed 16-bit 48KHz .WAV files for all its sounds and music. This is equivalent to CD-quality audio!
Naturally, the downside is these crystal-clear audio elements require significantly more storage real estate. But the benefit is immersively dynamic gun sound effects and atmospheric environmental audio.
3. Beefy World Density Drives Up Data Volume
Borderlands 3 doesn‘t just offer enhancements in surface-level audiovisual prowess – its game world and content density also received huge expansions compared to earlier franchise titles.
There is exponentially more "stuff" filling up its zones – richer level geometry, countless more debris/prop assets strewn about, tons of interactive objects, extremely dense enemy count, and of course obscene amounts of shiny loot!
All these enhanced world elements point to a general increase in asset quantity and diversity. It‘s no wonder so much more data is needed to construct these deep, lively worlds brimming with intricately-modelled objects and characters.
4. Comparison To Contemporary AAA Game Install Sizes
At 75GB, Borderlands 3 has one of the most ginormous install footprints ever seen for a traditionally singleplayer-focused shooter. But how outrageous is its requirement in relation to other sprawling open world titles? Let‘s compare.
| Game | Install Size |
|---|---|
| The Witcher 3 | 50GB |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 150GB |
| Call of Duty Modern Warfare | 175GB |
| Borderlands 3 | 75GB |
Frankly, Borderlands 3‘s demanded HDD real estate seems almost modest stacked against the true behemoths like CoD MW and RDR2 in this table! Though it ultimately lands reasonably considering its contained scale and visual fidelity in relation to those endless multiplayer endeavors.
5. Mitigation Strategies To Trim Install Size
For gamers tight on their SSD capacity, I offer this handy tip – consider uninstalling foreign language audio/subtitle packs from the game via Steam options. This could net you back 5-10GB of savings!
Disabling HD texture packs may grant you even more returns, likely in the 15-20GB range. This will revert to lower resolution versions of the hefty 8K textures, thereby reclaiming huge amounts of drive space. Just be prepared to lose some serious eye candy!
And if you don‘t care for the story, deleting the multiple GBs worth of elaborate video sequences is another route to moderate install savings.
Every little bit helps when trying to conservatives precious SSD capacity! There‘s no need stuffing your drive with audio bytes from languages you can‘t even interpret.
The Verdict – Well Worth The Install Pain
At the end of all this analysis, is Borderlands 3‘s demand for a large chunk of real estate justified? For the astronomical enhancements gained in visual quality, sound design, and dense world building – I declare an emphatic yes!
Those ultra-crisp environments saturated with color pop charm, incredibly diverse and dazzling weapon effects spraying particle chaos, and satisfyingly punchy gun sounds with distinct feedback across various weapon archetypes.
All this sensory splendor goes a long way toward forgiving those ballooning install dimensions. Not to mention the 100+ hours of exhilarating, loot-filled gameplay.
So in summary – despite its beefy weight class, what Borderlands 3 manages to achieve is well worth the hefty storage price of admission! Gamers who prioritize rich worlds and cutting-edge production values will agree the measured cost here delivers outrageous sensorial returns.
