Call of Duty is finally fixing its massive install size problems, starting with MW3 update next week

Hard drives everywhere just breathed a sigh of relief. A major pain point for the Call of Duty franchise will be fixed starting with Modern Warfare 3’s Season Five Reloaded update next week.

CoD aims to reorganize game content in several ways, starting with a big update next week. But after that, Activision promises that all future CoD “downloads will decrease in size and existing files will take up less space on your device.”

This is a huge development for the franchise considering that including games like MW3 and Warzone in the Call of Duty HQ app can bring the install to well over 200 GB. It sounds like those days will soon be in the past.

But soon, the process to improve everything will begin. And it all starts with a final, substantial large download for next week’s Season Five Reloaded update. This means players will basically need to redownload the game in its new, reorganized state to prepare for the future, including the Black Ops 6 beta.

“This initial download will not permanently add the stated file size to the storage space that Call of Duty takes up on your device,” Activision said. “The update is reorganizing game files and adding new tech to prep the way for the full player interface arriving in October. Once complete, Call of Duty’s footprint will decrease due to these file optimizations.”

The update will be one large file for players on Xbox and PC, but for PS5 players, it will be four separate downloads “due to differences in file organization.” This means the downloads will include an initial one “similar to other updates that are needed before booting up Call of Duty,” and then additional ones when accessing MW3 and Warzone individually.

To compensate gamers for the extra hassle of redownloading everything, Activision will reward all players who download the updates with 10 one-hour double XP tokens, 10 one-hour double weapon XP tokens, and 10 battle pass tier skip tokens.

Additionally, CoD is expanding and improving upon the Texture Streaming feature, which will now be called “On-Demand High Quality Streaming” and be separated into Optimized and Minimal settings, the latter of which will lower internet bandwidth usage.

This “road to a smoother CoD experience” kicks off with Season Five Reloaded on Aug. 21 ahead of the Call of Duty Next showcase and BO6 beta the following week. The final estimation for BO6’s file size is coming in October.