How much data does Starcraft II use?

starcraft 2 game

In Starcraft II, up to 16 players can compete and cooperate in the game’s online multiplayer modes at once. While these multiplayer modes are still the heart of the game, they can also use a lot of internet data. If you play Starcraft II on a 4G LTE internet connection (through a hotspot or an installed connection), you may have to monitor your data use to stay below your monthly data cap.

So exactly how much data do you use playing Starcraft II? Let’s take a closer look at the total data you use downloading, updating, and playing the game on PC or Mac. If you want to play Starcraft II without thinking about data use, consider switching to an unlimited 4G LTE connection with no data cap and no bandwidth throttling.


How much data do you use downloading Starcraft II?

The Starcraft II game download uses much more data than playing the game. As of June 2019, this is the download size for Starcraft II on each console. The download sizes might be larger now, since they usually increases over time as Blizzard releases patches and updates.

Platform Download size
Windows PC 30 GB
Mac OS 30 GB

There’s an easy way to avoid using a ton of data on the game download. If you’re afraid your data plan won’t support the download, purchase the disk and install the game offline instead.

Photo by Eric Walters

How much data do you use updating Starcraft II?

Blizzard releases occasional patches for Starcraft II, which usually hover around one or two gigabytes. Once in a while, the patches are larger. For example, a 2015 patch containing parts of the Legacy of the Void update had a download size of 5 GB. Stay up to date on the contents of the most recent Starcraft II updates in the patch notes.

If you’re worried about updates pushing you over your monthly data limit, turn off auto-updates in the game settings. Instead, manually install updates at the beginning of the month when you have the most data available.


How much data do you use playing Starcraft ?

Starcraft II uses as little as 22 MB of data per hour (very low for online gaming), but the exact amount of data you use playing the game depends on the number of players in your game, whether or not you use voice chat, your frame rate, and the tickrate of the server you’re on:

  • The more players in a game, the more data your internet network exchanges with other players’ networks. This data includes information like the stats and progress of each player. Multiplayer modes with more players use more data. In Starcraft II, you’ll use significantly more data playing on a team than playing 1v1.
  • Very few players use voice chat while they play Starcraft II. If you do choose to use voice chat, expect to use significantly more data during gameplay. Without voice chat, an online game like PUBG uses less than 30 MB of data per hour. With voice chat, the same game uses 50 MB of data per hour.
  • A higher frame rate refreshes the game more often, so that you exchange more up-to-date data with other players in the game. A lower frame rate will save you data, but makes it harder for you to react quickly in the game. You can adjust your frame rate (measured in FPS) in your game settings.
  • The server tickrate also affects your data use. A 128-tick server, which refreshes the game 128 times every second, uses about twice as much data as a 64-tick server, which refreshes the game 64 times every second.
Photo by Marco Verch

Upgrade to unlimited 4G LTE

Are you tired of keeping track of how much data you use playing Starcraft II? With our unlimited 4G LTE connection, you can spend as many hours as you want playing games, even if you can’t get cable internet where you live. We never throttle your speeds or charge you overage fees.

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