There was a time when games were played as part of video games that were battery operated and required nothing but a change of cells from time to time. Then they evolved, and games switched from just video games to online gaming. Now there are games that are beyond to keep track of with new ones being added to the list every once in a while.
It has categories that are ever-expanding and have amazing gaming graphics that get the player hooked. All of this has led to a rise in online gaming numbers around the world. Every year the number of people jumping online to play games on a variety of platforms is increasing. These games range from computers to consoles and even mobile devices.
Unfortunately, the problem with newer online games is that they inevitably eat up data and not just minimal but a lot. However, it is comparatively lower when compared with streaming Netflix and other videos online. So how much data does online gaming use?
On average, games will only use around a third of the data that is required for streaming Netflix in SD, let alone HD or 4K streaming.
How much data does each game consume?
Some games can take as little as 10MB of data per hour, while others can jump over the 150MB per hour mark very soon. This is usually the data cap for most users. However, it all depends on what game you are playing. If you enjoy playing an open-world game like Grand Theft Auto V while voice chatting with your friends, your data usage will be high.
On the other hand, if you prefer Rocket League or even Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), the data usage per hour will be as little as 40MB. Though these numbers totally depend on what you’re doing in the game, and even 40MB/h can add up fast. It also depends on the task your performing with the game that takes up the data.
Downloading of Games
Games, when being downloaded, take up a lot of data. More and more games being created are hitting the 50GB mark. If the player only has a 500GB external hard drive, then you can’t fit more than 10 games in your system. In case you choose the other route and purchase physical copies of games, even this might not help since updates and patches are required for these games as well.
Downloading Patches and Updates
Every game you download will require updates and patches at some point, while the size of the patch can vary drastically. Updates and patches can be at little as a few megabytes to a hefty 15GB+, which will slowly but surely eat up your data. Don’t skip on the updates on multiplayer games; otherwise, you won’t be able to use network features or play the game better. If you’re on an unlimited plan, then you don’t need to worry about newer titles continually updating, but if you have a cap, it’s best to turn automatic updates off.
Voice Chatting with Players
One of the newest features that online games today come with is the ability to communicate with players via microphones to discuss strategies and other stuff while playing the game. What many players aren’t aware of is that voice chat uses more bandwidth, therefore you could be using around 40MB of data just by raging over the mic for an hour. That is a lot! And it is something that can be avoided and not completely necessary. So, if you have a data cap, it’s best to keep quiet and turn voice chat off.
Conclusion
Whether you are gaming on your console, PC, or even mobile, the amount of data being consumed depends on the game that one is playing. Massive games like Fortnite and Dota2 tend to consume more data than other games since you’re playing with and against other players while also chatting with other players. Ensure to have a huge supply of data and not to venture into these games once you are nearing your data cap time to avoid the loss and high usage of data.
