All disc-based PS4 games require installation

If you buy a boxed version of a PS4 game, you'll have to wait out an installation process. Fortunately, it works with cached data, which will let you play some of your games as they install.

Ozzie Mejia

October 30, 2013 1:10 PM

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PS4 owners may want to upgrade their hard drives. Sony has confirmed that every game requires an installation, including games purchased at retail. The mandatory installation requirement is similar to Xbox One.

A new FAQ reveals that, "all PS4 Blu-ray Disc games must be cached to the hard drive to ensure a smooth gaming experience. However, certain titles may not require you to wait for the game data to be fully cached before starting gameplay. In order to start playing disc-based games, users will need to insert the game disc into PS4 just like on the PS3 system."

With games reaching sizes of up to 50GB, the 500GB hard drive PS4 launches with will fill up rather quickly. Thankfully, hard drives are user-replaceable.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?