As someone living with internet where data caps are a very real issue I have found myself reluctant to dive in to the world of downloading games on a regular basis and my most recent experience may have turned me off the whole thing completely.

I recognise the convenience of having games available digitally so I often find myself picking up a game at the end of my internet billing cycle when I know I have data to spare within my cap. This week I decided to pick up Everybody's Golf which according to the PS Store has a 8.8GB file size. With 14GB spare in my cap on the last day before my data reset I purchased the game and had it automatically download via the Playstation App and went about my day. Only when I got home did I realise the actual file size downloaded was just over 16GB.

I understand almost every game has a day 1 patch but surely that shouldn't double the size of the download? Equally I can't understand how a digital store can't be easily updated to ensure the 'File Size' listed on the store page matches the actual download size that goes along with purchasing that product.

I now find myself facing a big additional bill from my internet provider for going over my data cap and the only response I've had from Sony was disappointingly dismissive and basically blaming patches for the inflated file size.

This probably isn't a problem for the majority of people but I feel like digital download services should be responsible enough to provide accurate information regarding the file sizes of games before they take money from you.

How did you check that it did download 16gb? The installed game will be larger than the downloaded file as itll be uncompressed.

@forteexe21: When I got home and fired up the PS4 the game download had not yet completed. It was sitting at about 15.7GB when I got there. Despite knowing it had sent me over my cap I figured there was no point cancelling it that late on and having to re-download the whole lot again on another's months data

Okay, i looked into it and Sony now forces you to download the patches in digital downloads? Thats fucking stupid as I'll have to wait twice as long. I wonder whats in that 7gb but im guessing microtransactions.

@forteexe21: I've noticed it in the past which is why I generally give myself a bit of room to work with when deciding if I'll download the game. This example of a game being nearly double the size listed on the store page just a week after release is just ridiculous though.

@forteexe21: what happened to PS4 feature where you can play the game while it is downloading?

I'm not saying that their implementation was good but they should have improved it instead of killing it all together.

For example, Everybody's Golf should have three download bars. One to enable you to play the game while the main game is downloading and one for the rest of the main game and the last one is for updates. This will help the op to pause the download when he see that it is enough while being able to play the game.

I don't own a PS4 so I may be wrong but i think thats just for physical games.

If I remember correctly, the PSN requires you to download the full game file and then install from there, meaning there is a period when you essentially have two copies of the full game on your console. After this install it deletes the download data. I bring this up because it's possible you only downloaded 8.8 GB but your console set aside 16 GB of your hard drive. Hopefully that was the case and you haven't gone over your cap.