Genshin Impact version 3.0 brings with it the all-new region of Sumeru, marking the second main expansion to the game following the addition of Inazuma. This will inevitably come with new areas to explore, domains to clear, and bosses to farm.
Plenty of players are no doubt excited for the new content, but it does pose a few problems for mobile gamers. As Genshin Impact continues to grow in size, players on mobile devices will need to find ways to make room for the title’s hefty updates.
Genshin Impact’s File Size on Mobile
Genshin Impact has always been a big game. Currently, mobile devices need 20GB or more of free storage and 4GB of RAM to run the game smoothly. And this is set to increase once Sumeru drops. According to some leaks from last month, Genshin Impact’s Sumeru will be bigger than Liyue, which is currently the largest region in the game at the moment.
Admittedly, the 20GB requirement is much lighter compared to Genshin Impact’s PC port, which needs a reserve of around 30GB or more, depending on the current update. However, PCs usually have at least 250GB of storage, while modern smartphones have an average of 64GB, with older models having as little as 32GB of storage space. Mobile players in the community have done their best to keep the game playable on their devices. However, with the way Genshin Impact is progressing, it looks like its size will only grow as more content updates arrive.
Potential Solutions for Genshin Impact Mobile
Mobile players can minimize the game’s storage use by deleting the app completely then redownloading it when a new Genshin Impact update rolls around. This is because simply downloading the new patches doesn’t delete previous patch files, thus making the game take up more space than it should. Though it’s a more tedious way to go about playing, it significantly lessens the game’s storage use.
Another idea is to delete unused voice packs within the game. Those who only play the game with English voices, for example, can delete the files for the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean voices. Each voice pack contains at least 4GB of data, so deleting a couple will make Genshin Impact run smoother. To do this, simply navigate to Genshin Impact’s settings menu and go to the Language tab.
Lastly, mobile players of Genshin Impact should make it a point to regularly clear their cache as this can free up storage as well as improve smartphone performance. This can be done through a mobile device’s app setting menu and not in-game. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do much to help in the long run. In fact, arguably all the methods above are but short-term solutions to Genshin Impact’s growing size problems. While it’s easy to say that mobile players should simply buy a better phone or migrate to PC, not everyone in the player base has that luxury. Perhaps it’s time for HoYoverse to think of ways to make Genshin Impact more accessible for mobile players again.
One idea being thrown around is the option to custom install regions. This would allow players to get rid of region-specific files to make room for newer content. For example, a player could delete the regions of Mondstadt and Dragonspine in Genshin Impact from their map. This would bar the player from entering said regions until they redownloaded the files again. Another option would be to allow players to delete data tied to completed quests since these no longer have any bearing on new quests or event-related tasks.
Overall, Genshin Impact mobile players are in quite the pickle. It’s exhausting to have to delete apps and other media to make way for such a huge game. So, perhaps HoYoverse can lend a hand in shrinking Genshin Impact’s file size. Until that happens, mobile players will have to make space for Sumeru.
Genshin Impact is now available on mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development with no confirmed release date.