Link: Call of Duty’s massive filesize drives peak internet usage

Comcast has declared its "biggest week in internet history" due to streams of Thursday Night Football and downloads of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The release of the game on October 25th accounted for 19% of Comcast's total network traffic last week.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's file size is notably large, ranging from 84.4GB for PlayStation to 102GB for PC; the complete game package can even reach up to 300GB. Unfortunately, Comcast did not disclose specific customer download figures or file sizes.

The spotlight on Comcast's significant network traffic also highlights the limitations imposed by its 1.2TB data cap. The cap was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic but has since been reinstated in most US states.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently investigating these data caps, questioning their necessity given that providers have the technical capability to operate without them. The effectiveness of the FCC's intervention remains uncertain.

For users who download the entire 300GB Call of Duty package, a significant portion of their monthly 1.2TB data allowance would be consumed. Normal internet usage on top of this could easily exceed the data cap.

Given that my family's internet usage last month almost reached 800GB without any large game downloads, hitting or surpassing the data cap seems quite plausible for many #

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