Sea of Thieves Install Size Cut: 50% Smaller 4K Files but Full Redownload Required

There's a catch. You'll have to download the whole game again, and Rare hasn't said when the smaller version will reach everyone.

What Rare announced​

The update comes from production director Drew Stevens in the latest Sea of Thieves developer update. He said that "storage continues to become a challenge for gamers" and that the install size has become a frequently requested fix. He added that "the team have been working behind the scenes to identify where we could make some savings."

These are the announced targets:

On PS5, Neowin reports that Rare is targeting a 30% installation file size decrease that will bring it "in-line with other 4K platforms." Don't mix that 30% up with the 50% target for PC and Series X.

Rare also hasn't listed which hardware or PC configurations count as "non-4K." Until it does, don't assume any particular console or PC setup gets the 30% figure.

Rare has given percentages, not final package sizes. According to Neowin, the studio didn't give exact numbers for how many GBs players will save, but said "we feel confident that we can make significant savings." French Xbox site Xboxygen, which also covered the developer update, reports that the Insider phase is when Rare will confirm final sizes and fix any problems before setting a rollout date for everyone.

Summary: Rare is aiming for at least 50% savings on 4K PC and Series X installs and about 30% elsewhere. The final sizes, the wider release date and the exact split between 4K and non-4K installs are still unannounced.

Where the "60GB" figure comes from​

The "at least 60GB" in Neowin's headline is an estimate, not a number Rare published. It holds up on PC. Third-party tracker SteamDB lists the main Windows content depot for the Steam version at 134.96 GiB installed and 135.14 GiB to download, on a public build last updated September 24, 2026.

That figure is in GiB (binary gigabytes), not the decimal GB that stores and drive makers use. 134.96 GiB comes to roughly 145 decimal GB. If a 4K install really does shrink by half, my own arithmetic puts the saving above 60GB on that PC build, whichever unit you use.

Some caveats:

• Steam isn't every version. The Xbox PC app and console installs may differ in size.
• Not everyone has a 4K install. If yours falls under the 30% target, you'll save less.
• These are targets, not results. Nobody will know the real savings until the Insider builds are measured.

So 60GB is a reasonable expectation for a 4K PC install, but it isn't guaranteed for every player.

The catch: a full redownload​

This won't be a small patch. Neowin reports that a full redownload will be required. In other words, to get the smaller install, you download the whole game again.

On a fast fibre connection, that's an evening. On a capped or slow connection, downloading the full game again is a real burden.

The upside is that later updates should be smaller too. Xboxygen reports that once the switch is done, players should get a much lighter install and smaller monthly updates. Rare hasn't given any patch-size figures, though. And a smaller installed game isn't the same thing as a smaller download per patch.

Rare hasn't said whether you'll need to uninstall first or how much temporary disk space the reinstall needs. It also hasn't confirmed how big the new download itself will be.

Rare has done this before​

In 2019, Rare also used a full reinstall to shrink the game. Kotaku's coverage of that announcement listed the cuts after the February 6, 2019 update: Xbox One from 35GB to 10GB, Xbox One X from 47GB to 25GB, and Windows 10 PC from 47GB to 27GB.

That change came with a tradeoff. Then–executive producer Joe Neate said patch sizes would increase based on how the reworked file structures operate, but the overall size of the game itself would not bloat significantly. He also warned that "If we didn't make this change, the game install size would continue to increase, taking up more and more of your hard drive space."

Seven years later, the install sits above 130GB. Is that a sign the 2019 approach failed? Not exactly. The game has added years of seasons, islands and modes, and a higher-resolution 4K install path. Some growth is the cost of a long-running live-service game.

What the history does show is that a one-time reinstall can't promise a small footprint forever. Rare hasn't said how the 2026 repackaging works technically, so don't assume it repeats the 2019 tradeoff of bigger patches for a smaller install. Xboxygen's report suggests updates should get smaller this time, which would be a different result.

Summary: The 2019 precedent shows Rare can make big cuts through repackaging. It also shows that later content updates can grow the install again.

What players should do now​

1. Don't uninstall yet. The new packages aren't out to everyone. Neowin reports that Insiders will get them first so Rare can catch problems before the wider rollout.
2. Note your current install size. Steam's installed-files view or the Xbox app's storage view will show it. That gives you a real before-and-after number to compare.
3. Plan around your data cap. If you're on metered mobile data or a capped broadband plan, schedule the redownload for when your allowance resets, or use an uncapped connection.
4. Consider joining the Insider programme. If you're already in it, you'll likely be among the first to measure the new sizes. Rare hasn't published new eligibility steps or a test date for this particular build.
5. Wait for the final figures. Rare says it will publish them after the Insider phase. Until then, treat 50% and 30% as targets.

Other changes for PC players​

Xboxygen reports that the same developer update covered some PC-specific changes. Rare says the September update blocked players from modifying the game's files on PC. Some of those tweaks were cosmetic, but others abused Unreal Engine settings to gain an advantage over other players.

Rare also plans to add some of those tweaks as official settings. The October update will let PC players turn off mouse smoothing, which has been on by default.

Analysis: why this matters​

Sea of Thieves launched on March 20, 2018, about eight and a half years ago. The live-service model means content keeps being added and rarely removed, so games like this keep growing on your drive.

Plenty of players have Xbox Series consoles or gaming PCs with 1TB or smaller NVMe drives. Any single game taking up around an eighth of that space is a problem.

Two questions remain:

• How much of the saving will be real? "At least half" for 4K installs is a strong commitment, but measured Insider builds will be the real test.
• Will it stay small this time? The 2019 history suggests periodic repackaging may be part of running a game of this scale. Players will need to watch how the install grows after the change, not just the first number.

For now, nothing changes on your drive. Watch Rare's Insider announcements, set aside time and bandwidth for the full redownload, and expect to get back a large chunk of SSD space once the smaller packages arrive.