Activision reveals how CoD Vanguard is fixing Warzone’s most hated feature

Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty Vanguard will be addressing Warzone and Black Ops Cold War’s most controversial feature: file size. Here’s how the new Sledgehammer Games release is fixing the issue.

It’s no secret that CoD titles have exploded over recent years in terms of file size. Black Ops Cold War alone can chew through over 200GB today, with Warzone adding another 50GB if you happen to have both installed.

For certain platforms and smaller hard drives, this leaves very little space for anything other than CoD. With more updates adding to that size with each passing week, it demands a lot from dedicated players.

Thankfully, Activision is well aware of these concerns. CoD Vanguard has some new technological improvements on the way to “significantly” reduce file sizes.

“Good news for hard drives everywhere,” the official Call of Duty Twitter account joked on October 27. “Vanguard’s install size at launch will be significantly below previous CoD releases.”

Rather than cutting content or optimizing every bell and whistle like never before, Vanguard instead opts for a new “on-demand texture streaming” feature.

This should have gamers across PC and new-gen consoles both saving “up to 30%-50%” of the overall file size. For those on the previous generation of hardware, this option doesn’t appear to be available.

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Instead of saving one massive haul to your hard drive on day one, this new feature allows you stream assets instead. Rather than pulling from your storage, Vanguard will therefore rely on your internet connection to download various textures upon loading into a map.

It appears this streaming tech is indeed optional, however. After all, for players with a shaky network, constantly having to stream textures mid-match would be less than ideal.

• Read More: CoD Vanguard PC requirements

If you’re looking to install the full game, Activision recently confirmed Vanguard’s file sizes. Check below for details on your chosen platform.

• PlayStation 5: 64.13 GB Download | 89.84 GB Required Space
• PlayStation 4: 54.65 GB Download | 93.12 GB Required Space
• Xbox Series X |S: 61 GB Download | 61 GB Required Space
• Xbox One: 56.6 GB Download | 56.6 GB Required Space
• PC: Exact file size to be confirmed.

With just nine days left until Vanguard’s release, we’re fast approaching the next chapter in CoD history. Here’s how you can pre-load the new title to get in on the action right away.