If you happen to own Watch Dogs: Legion, you might have noticed that yesterday's patch was a whopping 40.2GB on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and it'll sting even more to know that the same patch was just 3.2GB on PS5.
If you're keeping track, that's well over 10x the size difference on Xbox compared to PlayStation:
- PS4: 26.6GB
- PS5: 3.2GB
- XB1: 23.8GB
- XSX: 40.2GB
- PC/Stadia: 25.98GB
Worse still, the patch barely includes anything of note, being limited to just a few bug fixes. Despite this, it seems the Xbox and PS4 versions are insistent on re-installing a large portion of the game again (we've seen reports of this in the past as well), while the PS5 edition doesn't do this.
Microsoft hasn't commented on the contrast between the two next-gen consoles, but it certainly hasn't gone unnoticed across social media, with many people highlighting the vast difference between Xbox Series and PS5.
There may well be a good reason for this, and the patch notes do specifically include a few fixes specifically targeted towards Xbox, but nevertheless it's not great news for those with poor connections and/or download caps.
What are your thoughts on the different in patch size for Watch Dogs: Legion? Let us know down below.
Comments 16
I assume there must be something about the lightmaps, geometry, or texture data that had to be remade for something on XSX considering the patch is substantially larger than even the PC patch. There's obviously game data that's being included only for XSX.
clears throat, ahem
People still play this?
@NEStalgia It has to be something like that since that's an absurd difference otherwise. Even the Assassin's Creed Valhalla ones, while still significantly smaller on PS5, have been 30 GB at most (like the recent one).
With that said, this is still a perfect example of why Microsoft needs to try to figure out how to implement good compression tech like Sony did for the PS5. Say what you want about Sony and the PS5, but the fact that patches for games are roughly half the size on PS5 than they are on Series X is fantastic and it's a shame Microsoft did nothing there.
@John117 It's a great game, easily one of the best sandboxes Ubi have made imo. That said, the best characters to play are all DLC. You can definitely have fun with the be anyone aspect but Wrench, Mina and Darcy are the most fun to use, unfortunately they're locked behind the season pass.
It probably replaces the whole game on Series X/S like Sea of Thieves on Xbox One before the code optimisations that they made later. Before them, the system had to redownload the whole game on the same console with every content update. Then they changed the code and left it clean so the updates were concentrated. Ubisoft's bigger update on Xbox might be because they changed the code for the new consoles. Probably, next update will be very small on Xbox as well.
@John117 it's a very "by the book" game. "Be anyone" mechanic is interesting, but picking an old lady, over a construction worker, doesn't change the game drastically. Both can still run, shoot, drive. The best thing about the game, it's super cheap with dlc, right now.
If you're burnt out on openworld, clear the map games(I am), this won't encourage you to come back. If it is your cup of tea, I recommend, since it's cheap.
That kraken compression tech is turning out to be a massive plus. Not just a marketing catch phrase, similar to how smart delivery turned out to be more than marketing jargon. Did Xbox not mention some sort of file compression as well before launch...is it just not being utilized or is it just not as good?
Remember the ass-sized updates were supposed to be going away?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
@Krzzystuff I think someone here, @tharsman maybe? Talked about that. I think there is a compression tech like that for xb, but ubi may not have used it on a launch title. Dev kits released like weeks before launch.
@KilloWertz Yeah, I remember a time not long ago that that difference would have decided which console id buy. That's a big deal for a lot of people.
@PhhhCough Just completed it on my PS4 & I happen to like it. Definitely not a masterpiece but it's a good game, not even close to being as bad as some are portraying it to be.
@SplooshDmg Great point. The actual total filesize is the more important value. I'd love to see a deep dive into this.
Though the download size is not unimportant either. Not least if you have to wait for 40gb to be downloaded which for many is measured in days not hours/minutes.
Combine this with Microsoft's frankly baffling decision to not automatically update all games in the background (or at least giving the option) and this is made far worse. There have been several times I have tried to boot up a game and only then does it try to download the update meaning you can't play the updated game when you want to. i.e. right now.
Lastly Series X (and I assume S) has a habit of storing multiple versions of games on other drives or distributing all the content across them. I have 3 drives (Internal, External SSD and external HDD) and often find each games data distributed and sometimes duplicated. This makes it harder to manage than it should and take up even more storage. Smart delivery, which is a brilliant concept when it works is sadly not always so smart.
This isn't to dunk on Microsoft, quite the opposite, they have done plenty right this gen. But as with everything some things MS have done better other Sony have done better. As a generally very happy owner of both it's easy to see where these are and i'd like to push for both companies to do better in these areas that they are behind for the betterment of all gamers.
@SplooshDmg "40gb or not, MS has no control over developers patches."
This is where I wonder (and it's just that, no more) whether Microsoft keeping the same basic OS from Xbox One era has had a few adverse effects. i.e. games had to both downloaded and installed / data rearranged to be optimal for slower hard drives. Yet the move to SSD makes with instant access makes this unnecessary... yet games still seem to do this.
They also have control over licensing compression technology, which Sony has done for all PS5 games. Between both these points PS5 update is so much smaller than PS4 let alone XSX.
So i'm not sure it's 100% out of their hands. MS could be doing more here I feel.
The auto-updates I just wish there was a toggle option. Fully understand there are valid reasons not to have it enabled by default, not least for environmental reasons, as well as the personal bandwidth caps you mention. But choice is still preferable.
Yeah the external HDD issue isn't widely reported at all. TBH i'm not sure if it's just a very niche problem a few of us are experiencing OR if precisely because this is hard to notice people are just blissfully unaware. I only noticed it when I ran out of space and started managing game data and moving some to a HDD for cold storage. Later I noticed games had been installed to multiple drives and in some cases seemed to be duplicated. Very odd.
IMO both consoles are fantastic and extremely close when it comes to performance (of current titles anyway, we'll perhaps see more as the gen goes on... but probably not). Both offer fantastically good value for all the tech hardware they contain. It's just these little nitpicks dragging both down a little (i've got a similar list for PS5 fwiw).
The positive is basically all my XSX complaints are software based that can be improved, not hardware issues which would be more problematic. 100% no need to blow these minor issues up or become hysterical about them, it's a really great box.
@shamirqushairi good on you. I didn't say it was bad(5 out 10 or less), not attacking something you enjoy. Just saying it's "by the book"(6/7 out of 10).
@PhhhCough Yes they do.
@PhhhCough Haha don't worry, I did not feel attacked in any way. The narrative surrounding this title paints it as a mediocre or meh game when in actuality it is not. It is a good game but Ubisoft needs more work before making this franchise a masterpiece. It even got me emotional at the end which isn't something I expected out of the Watch Dogs franchise.
A 40+ GB update that does not add to the size of the overall game download. Im on series s, first time legion update was the size of the game, after download it shouldve been double the size but wasnt, now this 40+gb update, same thing, still the original game size for me 😐 its like being made to download the game again and end up with the same download size ive had from the start
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