Online gaming uses surprisingly large amounts of data, which may surprise gamers who think their experience is limited to the game alone. The three most common causes of high data usage are video streaming games, downloading apps, and online gaming.
Online gaming usage has increased drastically in recent years, with players generating billions of gigabytes of data every day. Gamers can take several steps to optimize their game experience, while also curbing any extra data usage.
Read on MedCPU’s guide below to find out How much data does online gaming use.
What is the average data usage for popular online games?
WhistleOut took the time to compile a list of the data used by the most popular online games. You might be interested in some other games. These values can be affected by many things.
Data usage can be increased by patching, updates, or voice calls. If you play a lot, your monthly game data usage will increase. Below is a chart showing much data does online games use per hour for some of the most popular games.
| Game Title | Avg. Data Used Per Hour |
| Fortnite | 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 |
You can see that even data-hungry online games do not consume too much data. Voice chatting and patches are two things that can increase data usage per hour. If you are playing in a multiplayer game, you may use live voice chat to share strategies with your teammates and keep them updated.
This feature is available in some games, while others require you to use Skype, TeamSpeak, or Discord programs. Skype calls can take between 13 and 45MB per hour to understand the additional data voice chat consumes. This is for a 2-person call. As you add more people to the team, your data usage will increase.
Updates and patches are other features that can use up data while you’re gaming. Your game will use internet data to download patches and updates, even if it’s a single-player game that’s not played online.
Single-player data usage
How does single-player gaming compare to online games? Single-player games don’t allow you to play with or against other players online, so there is no voice chat. However, single-player gaming requires frequent updates and patches, which slowly reduces your broadband allowance.
You don’t have to worry about updated new titles if you are on an unlimited plan. However, if you have a cap, it is best to disable automatic updates.
Downloading patches and updates and
As we have already mentioned, every game that you download will require updates or patches at some time. The size of these patches can also vary greatly. You will lose data slowly, but surely, if you have to download updates and patches that are as small as a few megabytes to a hefty 15GB+.
To save data on limited broadband plans, catch updates as soon as possible to avoid missing them. You won’t have access to network features if you wait too long for updates on multiplayer games.
Voice Chatting
Modern games offer the convenience of communicating with other players via voice over internet protocol (VoIP), which is a convenient feature. You may not be aware that voice chat consumes more bandwidth. This means that you could use around 40MB of data by just raging over the microphone for an hour. Oh!
External VoIP applications like Discord, Xbox Live Party Chat, and PlayStation Network can also cause data loss. If you have a data limit, it is best to be quiet and not speak.
How much data do downloading games use?
Although online games are not very data-intensive, downloading them can take up significant data. It will take up a lot of bandwidth if you buy your game online and then need to download it. This will depend on the gaming console or device used.
Downloading popular PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One games can take up to 50GB. For example, CoD Black Ops 4 may take 45 to 55GB, depending on the console. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is 49GB and Read Dead Redemption 2, a total of 89GB. Fortnite takes up only 20GB.
Smaller consoles like the Nintendo Switch have lighter games, which take less than 10GB to download. Games for tablets and smartphones are lighter, weighing in at less than 1GB. Indie games can also be low-data as they take up to 5GB. Before downloading any game, make sure you are aware of how data online games will take.
Large downloads can be a problem if you have a limited internet plan or share your data with others. Remember that patches will still require data even if the game is not downloaded but purchased on a disc. Some patches will only take a few GB. However, Destiny 2 has patches that can often be as large as 5GB.
The most recent update to CoD: Modern Warefare’s 1.14 was 60GB in weight. It included lots of multiplayer content. This varies depending on the console: 51GB for PS4 and 67-68GB for PC.
Read also: What Is A Good Internet Speed For Gaming? 2022
How to Reduce Bandwidth Usage During Gaming?
Although many people have unlimited internet access plans these days, there are still some situations where you might only be able to use a portion of your monthly allowance. You may find yourself playing games on Wi-Fi hotspots that eat up your monthly mobile internet allowance. What can you do to decrease the bandwidth consumed by gaming? There are a few things you can do.
Game data usage is affected by many factors that you cannot control. For example, the game’s code optimization. Factors such as the size and complexity of the data to be transmitted and the server population are also important. Finally, voice chats can consume 50+ megabytes of data per hour, depending on how many people are talking.
However, there are some factors that you can influence. You can influence settings to make your game run faster also mean less data expenditure. Game launchers and other background programs can increase online gaming internet usage by downloading updates and patches while you’re gaming. Here are some things you can do to decrease bandwidth usage when gaming.
- Voice chat can be disabled
- You can set the texture size to small or medium.
- Reduce shadows and improve post-processing quality
- Turn off anti-aliasing
- If you find any background processes, such as game launchers, that are running in the background, turn them off.
- Avoid downloading large patches and games while you have limited internet bandwidth. They can quickly consume your monthly bandwidth.
Read also: How Much Ram For Gaming? A Complete Guide (2022)
FAQs
Is 50GB enough to play online?
This should be the case for most gamers, but it is not always true for everyone. To understand the average amount of data used by online gaming, please refer to our How Much Data Does Online Gaming Use Guide. Next, determine how many hours per day you play, then calculate how many hours per month. A 50 gig data allowance per month should suffice unless you stream Destiny 2 or play other big-hitters like Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Which uses more data? Gaming or streaming?
Online gaming bandwidth usage is generally lower than streaming data usage, particularly when compared to streaming 4k videos via Netflix or similar services. Some games, like Microsoft Flight Simulator and Destiny 2, use a lot of internet bandwidth, which is almost the same as streaming full HD video. You should also expect to stream streaming and gaming, prepare for much higher data usage as streaming video from your computer will spend as much.
Can you use mobile data for online gaming?
Mobile data isn’t the best for gaming because of the risk of data overages. However, it can be a viable option if you have a plan with a high enough data cap. If you do choose to use mobile data for gaming, be sure to monitor your data usage so you know when you’ll have to stop to avoid going over your data limit.
How much data does online gaming use on a hotspot network?
You might wonder how much data you’ll use if you have a mobile hotspot or want to play online games. It’s easy to answer: the exact amount you would use on any other internet connection. This table applies regardless of whether your PlayStation is tethered to your iPhone via Bluetooth or if you have a fixed-line NBN running from your PC to your iPhone.
You can still expect to use between 40MB-300MB per hour for most of the games. This means that 10GB could last between 250 and 33 hours, depending on which title you play.
Are there any differences between online gaming data usage of PlayStation and Xbox?
You use more data while playing a game than the platform. Fortnite will consume the same amount of data on your PlayStation 4 as it would on a PC or Xbox One.
There may be slight differences in the size of your game depending on which console you have, but these should not be significant. Doom Eternal, for example, is a 41.3GB game on PlayStation 4, but 40GB on Xbox One and 37GB on PC.
How do I verify the data used in my gaming app?
Mobile games are a hot trend. Every day, hundreds of new mobile games are released for Android users.
Fortnite and PUBG, large games, use more data to download and more data to play. It is a good idea to track how much data these games are using on your Android device.
How to verify the data usage of Android Apps
- Go to Settings on your Android phone.
- Click on Network and Internet to access the data usage option.
- Click on WiFi data usage to continue.
- Click on the App to see the data usage for the past month and the current month.
You can also see data from other months. Click on the date to select the period for which you wish to view data usage.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the average data usage that online gaming consumes totally depends on what you’re playing and how fast you’re playing it. If you do a lot of video chatting and surfing the web, then your data consumption will probably be pretty high. If you play video games that don’t require high-end graphics, then your data usage will probably be pretty low.
Thanks for reading! I hope you learned something useful here. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
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Eyal Ephrat serves as the co-founder and CEO of medCPU.com, where technology is making significant strides in the field of medicine. Through his experience in purchasing PC and laptop equipment and various other tech products, Eyal Ephrat contributes valuable insights to medCPU’s mission.
