As the highly anticipated release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III approaches on November 10th, players and enthusiasts are buzzing about the game’s colossal file size. Activision, the publisher behind the franchise, has taken the initiative to shed light on the extensive storage requirements, addressing why the game is even more massive than its predecessor.

According to a report by IGN, gamers who gained early access to the single-player campaign discovered that the total installation size for Call of Duty has ballooned to a staggering 234.9GB on PlayStation 5. PC gamers will need to allocate a relatively more manageable 172GB of storage, which includes the Modern Warfare II campaign and Warzone.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Activision attributes this significant file size expansion to the “increased amount of content available Day 1.” This encompasses map files for Call of Duty: Warzone, support for Modern Warfare II items, and the introduction of the new open-world Zombies mode. The company assures players that the final installation size will ultimately be smaller when compared to the combined total of previous Call of Duty experiences. More details about the launch are promised “in the coming days.”

However, it’s essential to clarify that the substantial file sizes currently reported for PC and PlayStation 5 do not encompass unreleased content for Modern Warfare III, such as the multiplayer or Zombies game modes. It’s worth noting that Modern Warfare III alone won’t occupy a whopping 200GB of file storage. The base installation size for Call of Duty HQ, which serves as the central hub for accessing Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare III, and Warzone, is approximately 50GB. Each game pack contributes to the overall file size and can be uninstalled if users face space constraints.

The ever-increasing storage demands of Call of Duty titles have sparked concerns among fans, a trend that gained momentum since the release of the Modern Warfare reboot in 2019. Activision has previously made efforts to reduce file sizes for the game, but even with optimizations, the company is urging PC gamers to find an additional 79GB of storage space if they already have Warzone and HQ installed.