From its humble origins in the 1990s, online gaming has come a long way. Because dial-up and early cable internet were too slow and unreliable for competitive gaming, most people would go to gaming rooms or hold LAN parties.
In 2021, we’ll have 4K streaming and the ability to download entire music discographies in minutes, thanks to lightning-fast Wi-Fi adapters.
More giant and more bandwidth-intensive games came as a result of these advancements in internet technology. So, how much data is used by online gaming nowadays? Let’s have a look.
Online Gaming Consumes Very Little Data
Online gaming is becoming more popular than ever. For example, the number of gamers on Steam is at an all-time high. For online gaming, this, on the other hand, isn’t particularly noteworthy. Many other internet services are at all-time highs in terms of utilization.
Is there anything particularly unique about playing online games? No, no, and no. Not at all.
How much data is used by online games? The actual amount varies according to the game. Fortnite and Minecraft, for example, are said to require around 100MB of data every hour.
That’s typical—some games will have a greater difficulty level, while others will have a lower difficulty level. Expect a file size of 40MB to 150MB.
Streaming Netflix in HD, on the other hand, can consume up to 3000MB (3GB) every hour. To put it another way, Netflix is streaming.
Receiving a 1080p HD video stream consumes 1.8Mbps if you’re holding a virtual Zoom meeting. That’s a total of 810MB (0.81GB) every hour, not including the video stream you’re uploading.
Internet gaming is one of the minor data-intensive activities available. Nobody is urging businesses to stop using Zoom or for customers to quit watching Netflix on their couches.
Gamers should not be singled out because they play online. Anyone who wants to target online gaming doesn’t know the numbers.
Some Gaming Downloads Are Massive
It’s important to note that many digital game downloads are pretty significant. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a 105 GB download, for example. Modern games frequently incorporate a large number of high-resolution images and music files.
However, not all games are as large as this. Let’s have a look at some of the most popular online games:
- 35 GB is used for Fortnite
- 15GB is used for Dota 2.
- 30 GB is used for Overwatch
Not every game is a 100-gigabyte single-player adventure with cinematics. Even the ones that aren’t can keep you entertained for hours.
A 100-hour game that downloads 100GB of data uses less bandwidth overall than 100 hours of Netflix in HD.
Use Of Data Differs Depending Upon The Game
We have made a list of how much data the most popular online games use on average. We also included a few different games that might inspire you. However, keep in mind that a variety of factors might influence these figures.
Patches, upgrades, and voice calls can all add up to a lot of data usage. Furthermore, if you play many games, the figures will build up in your monthly data usage. Here’s a graph of data usage per hour for some of the most popular online games:
| Game Title | Average Data |
|---|---|
| Fortinur | 100MB |
| Destiny 2 | 300MB |
| Overwatch | 135MB |
| Minecraft | 40MB-200MB |
| Diablo 3 | 16MB (single-player) 26MB (multiplayer) |
| World of Warcraft | 40MB |
| League of Legends | 45MB |
| Grand Theft Auto V Online | 60MB |
| Dota 2 | 120MB |
| Team Fortress 2 | 80MB |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 250MB |
| Call of Duty: World War II | 40MB |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 | 80MB |
As you can see, even the most bandwidth-hungry online games don’t consume nearly as much data as you might think. Voice chatting and patches are two elements that may raise the amount of data used every hour.
You can use live voice chat to strategize and communicate with your teammates if you’re playing a multiplayer campaign.
Some games have this capability built-in, while others require the use of third-party programs such as Skype, TeamSpeak, or Discord. Skype calls can take anything from 13 to 45MB each hour to give you an idea of how much more data voice chatting consumes. And this figure is for a two-person call; as the number of team members grows, so does the amount of data used.
Updates and patches are other components of games that use data while playing. Even if you’re playing a single-player game or one that isn’t played online, your game will need to download fresh patches using internet bandwidth.
On a mobile hotspot, how much data does online gaming consume?
If you’re gaming on a mobile hotspot, the typical data use numbers remain the same. Updates and patches, on the other hand, should be avoided. Patches, as previously indicated, can consume several gigabytes of data each hour.
Because many updates are performed automatically, you may not even be aware that this is happening. When it comes to gaming, the most crucial data is consumed when the game is downloaded.
How Much Data Does It Take to Download Games?
While many online games don’t require much data to play, they need a significant amount to download. However, this varies depending on the device or gaming console used and the game itself.
The download size of several popular PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One titles is around 50GB. CoD: Black Ops 4, for example, can take anywhere from 45 to 55GB, depending on your console.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is 49GB in size, while Read Dead Redemption 2 is 89GB in size. Fortnite, on the other hand, takes up only 20GB of space.
Conclusion
In this article, we have concluded the required amount of data that is used for online gaming. After reading this article, you can also know how much data is used for downloading games. This article is the best guide for you.
