Do online games use a lot of data? With prices for internet speed going up with the cost of living, how much data anything uses at a time is sometimes on the back of your mind. Especially if you’re the one footing the bill. Games are getting ridiculously big to download, but do they actually use a lot when you’ve got them installed?
Do online games use a lot of data?
The short answer is no, not at all. Obviously “a lot” is relative. However if you were, for example, gaming off of a hotspot so you can hang out with friends, then you’ll probably care a little more.
For comparison, the average Netflix or YouTube stream can use anywhere to 850mb to 3gb per hour depending on what quality you’re streaming at. Obviously 1080p uses more than 720p. Generally if you’re gaming online though, you can expect to only use btween 10 megabytes and 150 megabytes for the same time frame.
Source | Cloudwards
Do singleplayer games still use data?
It can do but generally no. If you’re using cloud saves, or streaming games over Xbox Game Pass, then you’ll be needing access to an internet connection, and with that you’ll actually be making more use of that data.
The average useage for streaming Game Pass is similar to streaming an uncompressed 1080p video. So you could end up burning around 3 gigabytes over the course of an hour like you would if you were watching a Twitch stream. Cloud saves aren’t nearly as intensive though, but if you’re really conscious, you can turn them off until you’re getting ready to turn off the game, so that way you’re only cloud saving once rather than whenever you autosave.
None of these calculations are also accounting for the other parts of online gaming like being in a voice call, be that in game or over something like Discord.