Marvel Rivals sees massive file size reduction on PC despite devs doubling content since launch

Published:

5 August 2026

Last Updated: 5 August 2026

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NetEase’s popular free-to-play superhero hero shooter Marvel Rivals is set to massively decrease its file size with the game’s Season 9.5 update.

Since launch, Marvel Rivals has seen a number of updates that have slightly shrunk the game’s significant install size. However, with Season 9.5, the game will see its largest reduction in game size yet, especially on PC.

At the time of writing, Marvel Rivals takes up 80GB without the game’s high resolution texture pack. With the additional textures installed, the game takes up around 120GB on PC. With Season 9.5, the game’s install size on PC will shrink by 40GB, taking it down to 40GB without the high resolution texture packs installed.

On console, the game’s install size is also shrinking, albeit by less than PC. On PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, the game will shrug off 15GB of its install size. However, at least for now, the game’s PlayStation 4 version will be completely unchanged with the game’s latest update.

As Marvel Rivals continues to massively expand with new maps, heroes, and modes every few months, it’s impressive to see the game’s file size decrease so substantially. It’s not the largest reduction we’ve ever seen—Helldivers 2’s massive reduction from 150GB to 23GB is by far the most impressive—but its nice to see.

“As the Marvel Rivals universe expands with every season, so does our file size,” the game’s director says. “Our tech wizards have been hard at work forging solutions. In Season 9.5, we are implementing a massive texture compression overhaul without sacrificing a single pixel of visual fidelity.”

Of course, as the entire game is being restructured, the Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 update will be larger than usual, but the game will end up taking up less space on your SSD. Other file size reductions may also arrive in the future as the team continues to work on further optimisations.

With the price of SSDs skyrocketing alongside RAM due to the ongoing AI-fuelled memory shortage, where prices aren’t expected to stop rising until 2028, storage space is more valuable than ever. As a so-called “forever game”, a title expected to be installed at all times, decreasing the install size of Marvel Rivals is likely a more necessary move than some would assume.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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