Players have been slashing, sniping, and bullet jumping their way through Warframe since its 2012 closed beta, and the file size requirement of the MMO action shooter has swelled accordingly over the years. But today, Digital Extremes announced a planned update for Warframe that should significantly reduce the game’s storage commitment.
The Warframe players are enjoying today across scarcely resembles the title that launched on PC nearly a decade ago, having added new weapons, dozens of playable frames, and entirely new modes. In August, the game released its third open-world region with the Heart of Deimos expansion, opening up a host of new quests, and allowing players to acquire completely new resources. But as Digital Extremes continues to add content, the developer is also streamlining the game’s assets to reduce the game’s hard drive requirement.
In a post titled “The Great Ensmallening,” the Warframe team announced that an update coming next week will reduce the game’s total file size by 6.6GB. There is just one catch: slimming down the game’s existing files requires a massive 6.5GB patch. The update goes onto state that the team is ultimately shooting to clear 15GB total by the time they finish renovations, thanks to superior texture compression methods.
Growing pains and associated house-cleanings are common for long-running titles that require regular updates, like MMOs. Later this fall, Warframe‘s chief rival in the space-opera-shooter genre, Destiny 2, will be cutting a great deal of early-build content with its Beyond Light update to make room for bigger and better things.
The space requirement trim is the latest change in a series of updates that have addressed aspects of the game that have aged less-than-gracefully. In June, the Deadlock Protocol updated the visuals for Warframe’s Corpus Faction, and it follows that Digital Extremes would continue to renovate and optimize the game to meet modern standards. This kind of sustained care is becoming increasingly common and necessary for titles with service monetization models.
These updates are timely, as Warframe is looking to make several big technical jumps this fall. In addition to next-gen console launches, Digital Extremes is reportedly eyeing a mobile Warframe release, as well. Optimizing the existing game before bringing it to new platforms seems like a prudent move, especially on mobile devices where hard drive space is at a premium.
Apart from technical practicality, quality of life updates are a great way to expand the titles’ user base as well. While fresh screens may draw the attention of potential Warframe players, that initial interest will go to waste if a huge file footprint scares players off. Making the title small enough to fit on an SSD—Digital Extreme’s stated intention—is a great way to bring newcomers into the fold.
Warframe is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One, with forthcoming releases for PlayStation 5 and Xbox One X later this year.
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