Insert one for HDD as PC games are starting to require SSD

Are you still hanging onto that massive 8TB spinning HDD for your PC game installs? Well, it's starting to look like SSDs will become the new minimum spec for modern PC games. While SSDs have shipped as standard in the latest and greatest PC gaming rigs and laptops, we haven't seen game developers actually go for SSDs at the minimum... until this week.

Microsoft held its Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday and revealed that Starfield, Bethesda's first new IP in 25 years, will require 125GB of SSD storage when it debuts on September 6th. This is not a recommendation – it is just a minimal tip for playing Starfield on PC.

A solo game isn't a trend, but at the same time CD Projekt Red also revealed it's bumping up Cyberpunk 2077's minimum specs to require a minimum SSD and phasing out HDD support. While the system requirements change for Cyberpunk 2077 is related to the upcoming Phantom Liberty expansion that won't ship on older HDD-powered Xbox One and PS4 consoles, the base PC game will soon be updated to this SSD minimum spec.

"One of the changes is the option to turn off HDD support for minimum requirements – SSDs offer faster loading times, better streaming and better overall performance than HDDs," explains CD Projekt Red in a blog post.

Cyberpunk 2077 won't suddenly stop working on HDDs, but CD Projekt Red will stop active support and stop testing the game on HDDs so players may eventually run into performance issues or bugs.

It's inevitable that we'll see more PC games require at least an SSD as game developers continue to leave behind the Xbox One and PS4 generation consoles and the Xbox Series S/X and PS5 begin to push the boundaries . We do The HDDs that both the Xbox One and PS4 shipped with the consoles have always had a huge impact on the way cross-platform games are developed.

Now that the current gen consoles are all SSD, we're about to see what developers can do with this faster loading technology now that they prepare to leave HDDs in the history books. Hopefully we'll see more games that support DirectStorage as well. This will still be a gradual transition to where games are unlikely to be blocked from actually running on HDDs, but if you're still fond of fiddling around with spinning discs, enjoy the moment as developers move into the world of SSDs. Let's step. To get ready. Speed and silence.