You may have had the feeling lately that the games you've been buying and playing didn't quite get finished when they were shoved out onto store shelves. Well, a lot of them weren't done baking.
We're a few years into a new console hardware cycle, one that promised to make games on the PS4, Wii U and Xbox One bigger and more immersive than ever. But, all too often, what happens after getting a much-anticipated release home is seeing a prompt to download a crucial bundle of code necessary to make the game run the way it's supposed to. It happened a whole bunch of times last year.
The list below runs down 24 AAA games—out of a field of about 70—released on Xbox One, Wii U and PS4 that got significant software updates 24 hours after release. Some of these patches quashed lingering bugs or tweaked multiplayer functionality, while others added extra content. We've tried to catalog the size and purpose of these day-one patches when that information was available. Some times, we weren't able to track down how many megabytes—or, in some cases, gigabytes—each patch weighed in at. All of them are part of a growing trend of eleventh-hour maintenance that seems to suggest that big game titles aren't coming to players in their optimal state.
Titanfall - March 11
- Size: 840MB
- Contents: No official patch notes
Infamous: Second Son - March 21
- Size: 300MB
- Contents: 19 new missions
Trials Fusion - April 16
- Size: N/A
- Contents: Bumping up resolution
The Last of Us Remastered - July 29
- Size: 142MB
- Contents: Photo mode, a documentary, bugfixes
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition - August 19
- Size: N/A
- Contents: "includes the 2.0.6 fixes implemented on PC. The XB1 version of this update will also update the resolution from 900p to 1080p"
The Sims 4 - September 2
- Size: N/A
- Contents: Bugfixes
Destiny - September 9
- Size: 300MB on PS4
- Contents: "a number of changes to Weapons, Builds, Talents, Maps, Activities, Achievements, Progression, game stability and UI."
FIFA 15 - September 23
- Size: N/A
- Contents: Bugfixes
Hyrule Warriors - September 26
- Size: N/A
- Contents: "a new mode, a new weapon, and the option to select your own music while playing the game."
Forza Horizon 2 - September 30
- Size: 400MB
- Contents: No official patch notes
Alien: Isolation - October 7
- Size: 400MB
- Contents: Bugfixes
Driveclub - October 7
- Size: 135MB
- Contents: Bugfixes and one extra car
The Evil Within - October 14
- Size: 7.5GB on Xbox One
- Contents: Performance improvements and bugfixes
NBA Live 15 - October 28
- Size: N/A
- Contents: Updated assets, player stats, roster
Sunset Overdrive - October 28
- Size: 300MB
- Contents: No official patch notes
WWE 2K15 - October 28
- Size: 315MB
- Contents: Bugfixes and improvements
Assassin's Creed Unity - November 11
- Size: 900MB
- Contents: Bugfixes
Halo: The Master Chief Collection - November 11
- Size: 20GB
- Contents: "some features and multiplayer content"
Dragon Age: Inquisition - November 18
- Size: 120MB
- Contents: Performance improvements and bugfixes
Far Cry 4 - November 18
- Size: 575MB
- Contents: Bugfixes
Grand Theft Auto V - November 18
- Size: 1.14GB
- Contents: "some last tweaks and optimization fixes"
LittleBigPlanet 3 - November 18
- Size: N/A
- Contents: Bugfixes
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - November 21
- Size: N/A
- Contents: "Fixes to enhance gameplay stability and performance"
The Crew - December 2
- Size: 200MB
- Contents: Bugfixes and two activated features