Why Nier: Automata's Latest Update Increased Its File Size To 366GB

Nier: Automata Update Accidentally Makes It One Of The Biggest Games Ever Square Enix Published Nov 6, 2026, 2:29 AM EST Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. Sign in to your TheGamer account Those with Nier: Automata installed on Steam were given a bit of a shock this week when they suddenly realized that either a significant chunk of their free storage was suddenly occupied, or nothing new would install because there was no room. Turns out a bug tied to the latest Nier update was to blame. From 50GB To 366GB Nier: Automata is a relatively modest (for modern-day games) 50GB on PC. However, some who installed its latest update noticed that file size had inexplicably ballooned to a whopping 366GB on Thursday. No indication of why in the patch notes, with the update a fairly routine one. Even if it wasn’t, and there was planned DLC for Nier, it would have to be quite something to make the game more than seven times bigger than it was this time two days ago. Unfortunately, there is no secret expansion. I say unfortunately, I’m not sure how many people would welcome more Nier DLC if the trade-off was having to find a spare 366GB of space in which to keep it. The Full Base Game With Every DLC No, this is a bug, and a pretty significant one considering just how much room the game now requires. Turns out that the update has accidentally added the base game’s files to all of Nier’s DLCs. That means the entire game is in every single DLC file; hence the file size now being so big, as the update means you are downloading the base game multiple times. The issue doesn’t appear to have been fixed yet either. Shout out to GamesRadar+, which tried to install Nier, only to be told the game now requires 366GB of storage. However, the storage requirements listed on Steam still claim the game is the original 50GB. Understandable, as this is a mistake and not an intentional ploy by Square Enix to make people delete every other game in their Steam library until only Nier remains. If Nier’s file size were to balloon up to a massive 366GB for some reason, it would make it one of the beefiest games of all time. Call of Duty is infamously one of the bigger games around today, although that’s largely due to its games being part of a bigger launcher that will install everything if you let it. Players can now cherry-pick what they do and do not want to install to make sure the latest CoD doesn’t take up too much room. It would even be significantly larger than GTA 6, the file size of which was officially revealed earlier this week. Almost certainly the most ambitious game ever made in terms of visuals, gameplay, and just sheer size, GTA 6 will be 212GB. That currently has nothing on Nier, although I imagine the 2B title will shrink back down to 50GB fairly soon. Released March 7, 2017 ESRB M for Mature: Blood, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Violence Developer(s) Platinum Games Publisher(s) Square Enix Engine Proprietary Engine Franchise NieR Nintendo Switch Release Date October 6, 2022 Genre(s) Action RPG, Open-World