| src said: This is incredibly wrong. Game data is on disc, which is why install does not require internet connection. Only patches do. |
It's not incredibly wrong, it's very much correct for many titles. It's been that way for a while now. And how could it be otherwise? Last-gen you had 100-150 GB games coming on 50 GB discs.
Even in the rare circumstance where the entire game is on the disc at launch, by the time the game is several years old the patches will have replaced more and more of the core game, meaning over time less and less of the data on the disc will be relevant to a reinstall. Increasingly, the disc is just a dongle to prove you own a licence for the game. Increasingly, your install/re-install situation often doesn't change much whether you have the disc or not.
Hell, the Nintendo Switch has CARTRIDGES without all of the game(s) on them now. GTA Trilogy has only 2 of the three games on the cartridge, as but one example. Some Switch carts are little more than a dongle to entitle you to download the game. Scott the Woz has an entire video on that topic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moj2wnzvQjY
Last edited by scrapking - on 07 December 2021
