Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is nearing its release (with early access to the campaign already available for those who pre-ordered the game), and the system requirements suggest a massive installation size of over 200GB in some cases by the game’s official launch on Friday, November 10th. Activision has now provided an explanation for this.
In a statement shared on social media, the publisher attributes the potentially large hard drive footprint of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to the “increased amount of content available Day 1”. This includes open world Zombies, support for carrying items from Modern Warfare 2, and map files for Call of Duty: Warzone.
The good news for those concerned about their diminishing storage space is that Modern Warfare 3 offers control over which specific components are installed. Activision notes that you can manage your Call of Duty files in the “manage files” section of the COD HQ launcher menu, giving you the ability to uninstall content you’re not actively playing.
According to IGN’s analysis of the campaign early access build, there are granular options for uninstallable components, allowing players to free up space by removing specific pieces of content. And this is without considering the additional content that will be available on launch day. Activision also assures that ongoing optimization efforts will result in installation sizes smaller than previous Call of Duty experiences, although this statement should be taken relatively rather than absolutely.
Currently, some early access players on PS5 have reported file sizes of nearly 240GB once Call of Duty HQ and the campaign are installed. Despite storage concerns, Modern Warfare 3’s early access launch seems to be progressing smoothly now after some initial hiccups. Certain players encountered a “disc required” error when attempting to play the game, but Activision has addressed this with an update. Additionally, service outages were reported for multiple titles, temporarily affecting campaign early access, account ownership checks, and progression systems. However, Activision states that the services are now recovering.
The campaign early access for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will continue until the game’s full launch on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Battle.net and Steam) next Friday, November 10th.
