Helldivers 2 devs slash install size from 154GB to 23GB

Re:Helldivers 2 devs slash install size from 154GB to 23GB by hinkley on Wednesday December 03, 2025 @12:54PM (#46137660)

I’m a working software developer, and if they prove they cannot do better, I get people who make statements like GP quoted demoted from the decision making process because they aren’t trustworthy and they’re embarrassing the entire team with their lack of critical thinking skills.

When the documented worst case is 5x you prepare for the potential bad news that you will hit 2.5x to 5x in your own code. Not assume it will be 10x and preemptively act, keeping your users from installing three other games.

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Re:Helldivers 2 devs slash install size from 154GB to 23GB by JohnBooty on Wednesday December 03, 2025 @01:10PM (#46137860)

Well, then I'd like to work where you work. Hard to find shops that take performance seriously. You hiring?

In my experience it's always been quite a battle to spend time on perf.

I'll happily take a demotion if I make a 10x performance goof like that. As long as I can get promoted eventually if I make enough 10x wins.

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Re:Helldivers 2 devs slash install size from 154GB to 23GB by hinkley on Wednesday December 03, 2025 @01:47PM (#46138328)

I would classify my work as “shouting into the tempest” about 70% of the time.

People are more likely to thank me after the fact than cheer me on. My point, if I have one, is that gaming has generally been better about this but I don’t really want to work on games. Not the way the industry is. But since we are in fact discussing a game, I’m doing a lot of head scratching on this one.

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