Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Will be a Smaller Download than MW3 Due to New Tech

Activision and Treyarch have outlined what to expect in the coming weeks ahead of the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, including the news that the game’s download size will be smaller than in year’s past.

In a new blog post outlining the launch roadmap to Black Ops 6, Activision revealed a ton, but perhaps most noteworthy to fans will be the download sizes for the game. In the past, Call of Duty has often been derided for how large the game’s downloads can get.

Big download will lead to smoother experience at launch

This time, Treyarch is re-designing the Call of Duty launcher, and decoupling Warzone as a mandatory download. This means that when players download Black Ops 6, it’ll just be the actual game files. For those who want to play Warzone or other titles, the ability to opt-in to download those titles will be available, giving players more control over what they download.

Currently, no exact download sizes have been made available, with Treyarch still optimizing things ahead of the game’s launch. Things will start, however, on August 21, 2024, when Season 5 Reloaded launches for the existing Call of Duty and will introduce new tech and reorganization of data to prepare for the game’s beta and subsequent launch.

According to Activision, this will be a huge update, and large in file size as a result. For players on PlayStation 5, the download will be split into four separate downloads, and triggered within the Call of Duty experience. Although the initial download will be big, Activision says this will result in a smoother experience at Black Ops 6’s launch, and smaller files down the road.

Textured streaming expanded to help download sizes

Activision also detailed how they plan on expanding the use of texture streaming, a tool used to reduce file and download sizes. The expanded streaming will allow them to cycle out content that is used less frequently by players, meaning there will be less going directly to a device’s storage.

As a thank to the community for the preparation and implementation of these downloads, Activision is gifting players some in-game goodies. Players who login from the start of Season 5 Reloaded through its end will receive 10 1-hour double player and weapon XP tokens, and 10 Battle Pass token tier skips as well.

Anthony Nash

Anthony Nash has been writing about games and the gaming industry for nearly a decade. When he’s not writing about games, he’s usually playing them. You can find him on Twitter talking about games or sports at @_anthonynash.