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By James Plafke
There was a time when console games couldn’t receive updates, and they released in, more or less, full working order. Now that consoles have competent online functionality, developers don’t need to precariously comb over every inch of code as much as they used to in order to make sure games work perfectly upon release — they can simply release a patch if anything arises.
To be fair, games have also gotten much more complex since the days of yore when multiplayer meant four controllers and splitting the screen into fourths. Regardless, games can be and often are rushed to release, and that means it can release with issues. Some issues are so prominent, apparently, that certain games can be released with a 7.3GB patch on day one.
Wolfenstein: The New Order, which hilariously has a special edition available that is so special it doesn’t come with the game, has day one patches larger than 5GB for all platforms, according to a blogger who got an early copy of the game. The patch for the PS4 and PC are 5GB, while the patch for the Xbox One is an even more surprising 7.3GB.
Now, it’s likely that the game isn’t riddled with so many crippling bugs that the patches exist solely to address 5GB or 7.3GB of bugs. The patches could simply rewrite minuscule portions of larger files, and it’s just easier to patch the game by forcing the player to rewrite the entirety of the files even though they largely remain unchanged.
Wolfenstein: The New Order releases on May 20, just under two days away, though a 5GB download may cause you to wait until May 21 to play it.
There was a time when console games couldn’t receive updates, and they released in, more or less, full working order. Now that consoles have competent online functionality, developers don’t need to precariously comb over every inch of code as much as they used to in order to make sure games work perfectly upon release — they can simply release a patch if anything arises.
To be fair, games have also gotten much more complex since the days of yore when multiplayer meant four controllers and splitting the screen into fourths. Regardless, games can be and often are rushed to release, and that means it can release with issues. Some issues are so prominent, apparently, that certain games can be released with a 7.3GB patch on day one.
Wolfenstein: The New Order, which hilariously has a special edition available that is so special it doesn’t come with the game, has day one patches larger than 5GB for all platforms, according to a blogger who got an early copy of the game. The patch for the PS4 and PC are 5GB, while the patch for the Xbox One is an even more surprising 7.3GB.
Now, it’s likely that the game isn’t riddled with so many crippling bugs that the patches exist solely to address 5GB or 7.3GB of bugs. The patches could simply rewrite minuscule portions of larger files, and it’s just easier to patch the game by forcing the player to rewrite the entirety of the files even though they largely remain unchanged.
Wolfenstein: The New Order releases on May 20, just under two days away, though a 5GB download may cause you to wait until May 21 to play it.