Doom On Switch Is 30% The File Size Of The PC Version

And yet it's still unlikely to fit on the Switch without additional storage.

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Despite the game's official requirements stating the need for around 45GB of available storage, the 2016 reboot of Doom for the PC actually takes up just under 77GB of available space. And while this is still a small number compared to some other hard drive-heavy game installs, the Nintendo Switch version of Doom is apparently much lighter — something like 70% lighter, in fact.

According to a report from Go Nintendo, the Switch version of Doom only requires an initial download of just 13.4GB from the Nintendo eShop. However, any players who want to enjoy the game's multiplayer shenanigans — and really, who doesn't — will be required to download the multiplayer component separately, which means they'll need to make sure they have an additional 9GB of free space.

Basic math puts the total install size for Doom on the Switch at 22.4GB, a figure that's a whopping 54GB lighter than the PC version of the game. Where all that data went, we can't say for sure — maybe it was fired from a Gauss Cannon into the Martian atmosphere. And while 22.4GB will fit neatly onto one of the many 32GB Switch cartridges being produced by manufacturers, the game comes dangerously close to the 25GB of available storage on the Switch, given the extra space needed for things like firmware, updates, and various save files.

What this means is that Doom is very likely yet-another Switch title that will require players to pony up some extra dough to spend on expandable storage in the form of a microSD card, with the natural assumption that they'll have at least one other game or demo already installed on their console. NBA 2K18 was the first title we learned about that wouldn't fit in the Switch's on-board storage, and we learned just yesterday that the same is true for the Switch port of L.A. Noire, which weighs in at a total of 29 GB.

Fortunately for Switch owners, the margins of these storage limits are small enough to where players will only need a couple extra gigabytes in order to install any of these games, meaning any old 4 or 8GB microSD card they have lying around should be enough to complete the install. And, as we've pointed out before, it's relatively easy to use multiple microSD cards with the Switch — just don't expect to be able to load up all your favorite AAA titles on a single card unless you're willing to spend big bucks on a high-capacity card.

Guides Editor

Kevin Tucker is a core component of Shacknews' powerful guide development team. For questions, concerns, tips, or to share constructive criticism, he can be reached on Twitter @dukeofgnar or through e-mail at kevin.tucker@shacknews.com.

From The Chatty
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    November 3, 2017 8:00 AM

    Kevin Tucker posted a new article, Doom On Switch Is 30% The File Size Of The PC Version

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      November 3, 2017 8:02 AM

      [deleted]

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        November 3, 2017 8:44 AM

        I've got the 400GB SanDisk card on my Christmas list this year.

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          November 3, 2017 9:02 AM

          For the Switch? That's like the entire current library!

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            November 3, 2017 9:33 AM

            That's the goal... eventually... kind of.

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            November 3, 2017 11:09 AM

            The documentation says the Switch can address microSD cards up to 2TB. Which don't exist yet.

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              November 3, 2017 11:11 AM

              Fuck. I’m picturing a NAS that’s just a bunch of SD card slots now.

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              November 3, 2017 11:24 AM

              I hear the new Razer phone supports the same. I guess the standard is pretty well fleshed out and we're just waiting for capacity now.

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      November 3, 2017 9:04 AM

      So is this gonna look like the n64 or something?

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        November 3, 2017 9:06 AM

        famicom

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        November 3, 2017 9:10 AM

        StarCraft 64 replaced all the cinematics with 3 frame per second gifs.

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        November 3, 2017 9:25 AM

        Doom64 was so bad

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          November 3, 2017 9:35 AM

          Doom64 was one of the best console Doom's at the time. It was great.

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          November 3, 2017 9:42 AM

          Doom 64 is excellent. What are you talking about?

          The only bad thing about it was the replaced enemy sprites - they just didn't work as well as the originals.

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            November 3, 2017 9:47 AM

            Sorry, I should have noted that I was in a post-GLQuake world. I had that first 3DFx Diamond Monster 3D so seeing Doom64 so soon after was like....wtf is this.

            the 3D acceleration era was basically the genesis of PC gaming for me, so I never played Doom (although I vividly remember my buddy going crazy over it while playing with a flight joystick!!!)

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              November 3, 2017 9:55 AM

              Well, the Doom 64 campaign (it's a sequel, not a port) has been ported to the PC. If you like Doom, you should give it a try in a modern source port. It's still fun.

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              November 3, 2017 12:25 PM

              Really? I thought it looked great next to GLQuake, which was basically regular Quake with texture filtering and smoother framerate. Doom64 had all sorts of crazy (at the time) lighting and a very unique look. And it played pretty well. It's criminally underrated, imo.

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                November 3, 2017 12:29 PM

                Those sprites in a 3D world were brutal, to me. I actually remember hating it in Mario Kart 64, too.

                I wonder if there are very few people such as myself: having completely missed Doom and started on Quake. The inability to look up and down was just something I could never go back to,

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        November 3, 2017 9:28 AM

        from the videos we've seen of it already it looks kinda like the PC version on lowest settings, and runs at 30fps

        still pretty impressive for a handheld but it makes sense that there's a lot less space taken by textures.

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          November 3, 2017 9:43 AM

          Kinda like that as far as textures go, but with DOF and other effects still working. I doubt it's an exact match to what you could do on the PC.

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            November 3, 2017 10:51 AM

            Well, fucking duh. But portable Doom, who gives a shit?

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              November 3, 2017 11:32 AM

              I'm buying it, so...yeah.

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              November 3, 2017 11:38 AM

              Also, I meant more like it wasn't actually the same as PC on lowest, but rather low for textures but with other effects tweaked to work that might be disabled if you just went all lowest on PC.

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      November 3, 2017 12:36 PM

      Looking forward to milleh buying this then going goddamnit why.

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