How much data does online gaming use?

How much data does online gaming use?

For traditional online gaming on a PC, you can expect to use less than 200MB per hour. For mobile gaming, you're looking at less than 50MB for internet connected games. It's going to vary a lot based on whether

• PC gaming: Modern Triple A titles like Call of Duty, Counter Strike and League of Legends typically use between 100MB and 300MB of data per hour of online paly.
• Mobile gaming: Most mobile games use way less data, closer to 5MB to 50MB per hour. If you're games that are closer to Triple A level that are available on mobile - think Fortnite or Genshin Impact - you'll be using closer to the PC gaming numbers.
• Game Streaming: Streaming games via Xbox Gamepass or similar uses between 1GB and 3GB per hour, much more than traditional online gaming.

Online gaming vs other online activities

Let's start with a high level look at an hour of data-intensive gaming comparesd to other online activities:

So you won't be able to get as many hours of gaming out of your data as you would if you were streaming tunes, but it's really not a huge amount of data comparatively. Keep in mind that 300MB/hr figure is on the heavier end of the scale - most games won't even come close to using this much.

How much data do popular online games use?

Let's say you're playing an online game, where the game is run from you local machine. The exact amount of data will vary depending on the game, but you can expect to use between 100MB and 300MB per hour.

That said, same games are massive data hogs. For example, Counter Strike 2 is often reported at using 300MB for a 30 minute match, which is about double it's prequel, CS GO.

Here are some very approximate data usage numbers for some relatively recent game releases. I've pulled these numbers from a range of online sources and my own experience, trying to find a typical middle number.

*For whatever reason, data usage reports of online Minecraft play are all over the shop. It probably depends on server quality among other things, but it's an interesting one to note.

**Yes, AOE2 is a 25 year old game, but more people should play it.

How much data do online mobile games use?

Mobile games should use a lot less data than PC games. They typically aren't as 'live' as PC games, and have less simultaneously online players. So there should be less data to transmit.

For games with online elements that is mainly single player - think Candy Crush - expect to use less than 5MB per hour. Simple multiplayer online games will use a bit more - we tested a quick round of Among Us and it used about 2MB, which would end up being around 10MB an hour.

If you're playing an online game like Fortnite or Genshin Impact, that are much closer to Triple A level but have a mobile version, you're going to use more data. Genshin mobile uses between 30MB and 50MB for example. The mobile ports should be better optimised for less data than their PC version, but won't always be.

Also note that if you're playing something like GeoGuesser where there's streaming video or photos, or a game with voice chat enabled, it will pump up the data usage.

How much data do game download use?

Game files are MASSIVE these days. Gone are the days of playing games of floppy discs, or even optical media! If you're playing a lot of new games, you're going to smash your data usage each month.

Now this is less of a problem on some systems, like Nintendo Switch. Nintendo in particular make smaller games for a smaller device. But even consoles like Playstation will need you to download a massive update in addition to your game discs. It's bonkers.

Here are some file size of some common games on PC. They'll translate relatively well to other platforms.

• Fortnite: 26GB
• Starfield: 125GB
• Overwatch 2: 50GB
• Call of Duty: Warzone: 200+GB

Thankfully, nearly all NBN plans these days come with unlimited data so you shouldn't have to worry about how much data you're consuming from your online gaming.

How much data does game streaming use?

Game streaming, where you don't run the game from your own machine, is much more data intensive. You're only sending mouse and keyboard inputs, but you're basically streaming a HD video file the entire time you play.

So the data usage for game streaming is pretty similar to Netflix streaming. For standard definition streaming you'll use up to 1GB per hour, but for full HD streaming expect closer to 3GB used per hour. Game streaming in 4K is possible, but it's pretty uncommon because of these sheer amount of data used - around 7GB an hour. Unless you're using FBI-level broadband, it's going to impact your gameplay.

Now those numbers will vary - a lot. Not so much by game, but more by the streaming platform you use. A few of the factors that will change your data usage are:

• Bitrate. Bitrate is a measure of how much data is being processed every second. A higher bitrate means higher image quality, but also higher data usage.
• Resolution. The better your resolution, the crisper your game stream will look. Higher resolutions will consume more data, assuming the picture quality remains unchanged.
• Compression. Like streaming sites like YouTube and Twitch, game streamers will compress your stream so that it doesn't need as much data. How this is one will affect the data used.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a good amount of GB for gaming?

  A good amount of GB for gaming depends on the amount of time you pay and the types of games you play. For casual gamers, 100 GB per month should be sufficient. If you download games or play frequently, 200-500 GB is recommended to ensure you do not run out of data.

• Does online gaming use a lot of internet data?

  Online games typically use more data than games you play offline: some of the most popular online games consume around 100 Megabytes (MB) of data per hour, though it can vary from 40MB to 300MB per hour. This number can vary, based on your game's settings and graphics quality. You can find specialised broadband plans for gamers to suit your needs.

• How long will 100GB of internet last?

  With 100GB of internet, you can enjoy hundreds of hours of online gaming. For example, if a game uses 100MB per hour, you could play for 1,000 hours before hitting your limit. However, activities like downloading games and updates could reduce this significantly. You can use our data usage calculator to estimate your data usage more accurately.

• Is 200GB internet enough for gaming?

  Yes, 200GB is usually more than enough for online gaming. It allows for extensive gameplay, downloading new games, and installing updates without worrying about exceeding your data limit. You can explore more options by comparing broadband plans to find the best one for your needs.

Written by

Tim Bennett

Insurance expert

Tim Bennett is a Finder insurance & utilities expert. For over 10 years he's reported on news, politics, finance and other topics as a journalist and radio presenter. Tim's roles have included radio news reader and breakfast at the ABC, news producer for SBS and producer for Fairfax Media. Tim regularly appears as a health insurance expert on programs like Sunrise and SBS news, as well as in the Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail and more. See full bio

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