Hardware Ready Ready to Bench?
Those who have marked the release of Phantom Blade Zero in their calendars would do well to check the free space available on their PlayStation 5. The action game developed in China, a console exclusive for PS5, will indeed require approximately 134.857 GB of memory, a quantity that could increase further with any updates scheduled for launch day.
The two dates to keep in mind are October 27, when pre-loading will become available, and October 29, the official release date. These two days may be sufficient to complete the download, provided that space has been freed up on the console’s SSD in advance.
Phantom Blade Zero: why it matters
Why a physical edition is not planned
The considerable size of the game helps explain the decision to forgo a disc version. To contain a title of these proportions, two or more physical media would be required, a solution that publishers tend to avoid due to additional production costs. The Chinese developers have therefore opted entirely for digital distribution, a choice that is far from accidental.
Furthermore, anyone purchasing such a large game will end up installing it completely on the console’s internal memory anyway, rendering the physical medium useful little more than as a collectible item or for resale.
Games getting heavier and memories getting more expensive
The case of Phantom Blade Zero is not isolated. Recently, there has been a steady increase in video game sizes, a phenomenon that entails some additional difficulties compared to the past. The price of storage units has indeed increased significantly, driven by the enormous demand for hardware from data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence.
Expanding console memory is therefore more costly than before. Other highly anticipated titles will also far exceed the 100 GB threshold on PlayStation 5, including Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and Forza Horizon 6. At present, no official information is available regarding the size of GTA 6, but it is expected that it could even surpass the footprint of Phantom Blade Zero, considering the scale of the production.
For those with an SSD of limited capacity, the arrival of the game may necessitate deleting some already installed titles to make space. This could be a good time to tidy up the library and remove adventures completed long ago that occupy valuable space unnecessarily.
Cleaning up before October 27 will allow for the best use of pre-loading without hitches. It is important to remember that final sizes may vary with the application of launch patches, which typically add content or fixes to the initial package.
In conclusion, the 135 GB required by Phantom Blade Zero confirms an increasingly marked trend: high-end productions occupy a growing portion of console memory.
Source and further reading on Phantom Blade Zero: original article.
* Content created with the assistance of artificial intelligence systems.