Gamers who chose to pre-load Destiny on Xbox One will be glad they did, as the download would have otherwise taken a lot of time. One user who received an early boxed copy of Destiny shared a series of photos that show the Destiny install size as 40GB.
Even at broadband Internet speeds that would’ve been a hefty download. No word yet on how long the Destiny install time is for a game that large, though the beta took 5-10 minutes to install and was much smaller.
The reference to the Destiny install size is a bit hard to read, but zooming into the back-of-box photo on Imgur shows refers to the 40GB install size on the top line of the fine print.
Destiny is a huge open-world game in the same vein as Mass Effect. Considering Bungie and Activision are also planning to release downloadable content, the final install size for Destiny could be close to double that size when all is said and done.
We haven’t yet seen any photos of a disc-based PS4 version of Destiny, but the install size is presumably even larger than the Xbox One install size.
Both PS4 and PS3 owners get a series of exclusives that will fill the Blu-ray Disc even further. The exclusive Destiny content for PlayStation owners includes a co-op Strike mission on Mars, an exclusive competitive multiplayer map and a variety of exclusive guns, equipment and ships.
The exclusive mission won’t likely result in much extra install space, because it presumably uses the same assets as the core game. However, The Dust Palace Strike mission will likely require a little more room because of a new enemy type, the Psion Flayers. The mission supports up to three players who must track a Cabal extraction team through the remnants of an ancient human skyscraper.
The exclusive map, guns, equipment and ships are a different story in terms of install size. Those are all unique to PS4 and PS3, so the Destiny install size will likely expand on those platforms well beyond the 40GB required by the Xbox One version.
For the record, we haven’t experienced Destiny yet outside of the beta, so we can’t vouch for the photos or install size. We do know, however, that several factors leading up to Destiny’s Sept. 9 launch indicate it’s well-positioned to win Game of the Year. You can read about those factors here.