The launch date for BioWare and EA's Mass Effect: Andromeda is quickly approaching. The game recently went gold and now BioWare is now focusing on the day one patch and how big the game will be, letting gamers know how much space they'll need to free up to install it.
Gamespot is reporting that Mass Effect: Andromeda producer Michael Gamble and lead designer Ian S. Frazier have discussed that the day one patch is expected to be made available in time for players who pre-ordered and have Origin Access or EA Access, given that they will be able to play the game a week earlier than everyone else.
However, Michael Gamble wanted to clarify that even though they're aiming to have the patch ready for those with early access, it's not "100% yet". So while they're still working on the patch, developers haven't verified if the patch will be ready in time for those who will have early access to Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The patch size wasn't revealed, but it will be separate from the 55GB required in order to install the game on PC. For Xbox One and PS4, they mentioned that the game would be around 45GB, showing a massive 10GB difference between the PC version. However, with the day one patch they mentioned that while it would be at least 45GB the game would not be more than 60GB. So it's possible all three systems could even out at 55GB.
The game is absolutely massive as far as space is concerned. GTA V on PC, for instance, is also 60GB. However, the game has a massive open-world to explore, multiple vehicles, and tons and tons and tons of dialogue. So you can easily see how the game could hit the 60GB mark. For Mass Effect: Andromeda, it's quite telling that the game is 55GB because it means that there's either a whole boatload of dialogue, or there are lots and lots of planets to discover and tons of exploration to be had. Alternatively, it could be due to 4K textures and assets, which quickly expands a game's size exponentially.
The news about the size of the game was taken in without much of any complaints, but a lot of people were not fond about the news of a day one patch. Many people were curious why they didn't just wait and include the patch in the game before it went gold, as opposed to having Mass Effect: Andromeda go gold and then fix the game leading up to its release on March 21st. Well, some people explained that between going gold and launching, they still have a few weeks before release so the team spends that time making fixes and squashing additional bugs.
I don't think it's much of an issue to work on a day one patch, but one of the bigger problems is when the day one patch is several gigabytes large and if you don't install it the game is unplayable or a broken mess. Some people have taken up the conspiracy that day one patches are designed to curb piracy, given that you have to have the original version in order to get the patch, and it detours people from pirating the game.
Regardless of the reasons, there will be a day one patch for the PC, PS4, PS4 Pro and Xbox One version of Mass Effect:Andromeda when it releases on March 21st.
