Helldivers 2 on PC Cuts Install Size by 85% Thanks to Nixxes’ Breakthrough Optimization
The global Helldivers 2 community has received a major storage upgrade as Arrowhead Game Studios announces a dramatic reduction in the game’s PC install size. According to the official Steam update the title now shrinks from approximately 154GB down to just 23GB, marking an extraordinary 85% reduction that sets a new benchmark in large scale live service optimization. This achievement is the result of a deep collaboration with Nixxes Software, the Dutch PC port specialist acquired by Sony in 2021.
Players immediately gain roughly 131GB of reclaimed space, and Arrowhead confirms that several rounds of internal QA have been completed before rolling out the optimization as a public technical beta. Despite the substantial decrease in data footprint, internal testing shows minimal impact on performance. Mission loading times only increase by a few seconds at worst among the small percentage of players still using mechanical hard drives. Arrowhead noted that only around 11% of the active Helldivers 2 PC base still uses HDDs, and that level generation rather than asset loading is the primary driver of loading time. Since this process runs in parallel with asset loading, the new build presents no meaningful downside for modern systems.
With positive test data in hand, Arrowhead has greenlit the public technical beta. If the rollout continues smoothly, the team plans to phase out the legacy version sometime next year. Players can access the optimized build immediately by going to their Steam library, selecting the game, navigating to Properties, opening Beta Participation, and choosing the prod_slim branch.
Helldivers 2 remains Sony’s most successful live service project to date. Within one month of its February 2024 launch, the game surpassed five million units sold across PC and PlayStation 5, with PC leading in total sales. Momentum surged again in August 2025 when the game arrived on Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, where it posted strong performance. The most recent major expansion Into the Unjust launched in September and introduced new Hive Worlds, enemy types, and mission structures that continue to energize its expanding community.
This aggressive optimization initiative positions Helldivers 2 as a forward looking live service benchmark and further strengthens Arrowhead’s cross platform ambitions for long term operational excellence.
What do you think about this massive install size cut? Will you opt into the prod_slim beta to test it out?
