Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s file size is out of control on PS5 and Xbox Series X

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Waging war on storage

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is determined to take your PS5 and Xbox Series X’s SSD hostage, thanks to its massive file size.

Weighing in at a colossal 133GB on PlayStation 5 and an eye-watering 136GB on Xbox Series X/S, the game promises to steal a large chunk of space on your shiny new console’s SSD. Frustratingly, the game takes up a significantly smaller – if still sizeable – 95GB on PS4 and 93GB on Xbox One.

We’ve already seen that space will be a premium on both next-gen consoles – the Xbox Series X comes with 802GB of usable storage, while the PS5 is rumored to have just 667GB of usable space. It’s a worry, then, that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War demands so much room on the SSD.

And what about the Xbox Series S? Microsoft’s cheaper next-gen console is only equipped with 512GB of storage, with a large portion reserved for the system’s OS. So much in fact, that it's reported to only have 364GB available. Installing the next-gen Call of Duty promises to steal a significant portion of the SSD’s already limited space. 

There is a glimmer of hope, though. Activision outlined that console players can choose to uninstall specific game mode packs, such as the Campaign or Zombies to help keep the game's bloated file size in check. 

War crime

Activision has come under fire for its massive Call of Duty file sizes, drawing particular criticism of how Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its battle royale mode, Warzone, continued to inflate in file size with every meaningful update. It seems that the publisher still hasn’t found a way to make Call of Duty more manageable for players planning on installing the full game on next-gen consoles, which is a concern. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War releases on November 13, 2020 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The question is: are you willing to sacrifice so much space for just one next-gen game?

Adam Vjestica
Adam Vjestica

Adam was formerly TRG's Hardware Editor. A law graduate with an exceptional track record in content creation and online engagement, Adam has penned scintillating copy for various technology sites and also established his very own award-nominated video games website. He’s previously worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor and once played Halo 5: Guardians for over 51 hours for charity. He is now an editor at The Shortcut.