Activision claims huge Modern Warfare 3 file size is due to ‘increased content’

Activision has issued a statement regarding the file size of this year’s Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 3, which can exceed 200GB depending on the number of packs players install.

According to the publisher, the increased file size compared to last year’s game, Modern Warfare 2, is because of the “increased amount of content available” on release day.

“#MW3 is almost here. In preparation, we would like to provide an update on file sizes which are larger than last year,” the company wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

“This is due to the increased amount of content available Day 1, including open world Zombies, support for item carry forward from #MW2, as well as map files for current Call of Duty: Warzone. (Note: as part of our ongoing optimization efforts, your final installation size will be actually smaller than the combined previous Call of Duty experiences).”

The publisher finished by noting that players can manage their Call of Duty files in the ‘manage files’ section of the COD HQ launcher menu, including the ability to uninstall specific content not actively being played.

Modern Warfare 3’s campaign was made available today via early access, ahead of the full game’s release – including multiplayer – on November 10.

Modern Warfare 3 is a direct sequel to last year’s Modern Warfare 2. Development is being led by Sledgehammer, in collaboration with Infinity Ward, while Treyarch is in charge of its Zombies mode.

On Wednesday, Activision announced plans to bring back a selection of multiplayer maps from last year’s Modern Warfare 2 into this year’s sequel.