Since this is rather tl;dr here are links to the info:
PS4 Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/ps4-update-sizes/
Xbox One Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/xb1-update-sizes/
Congratulations to all of you who live in an area where fast internet with generous allowances is readily available. This thread may still be for you for game rental/going to friends' houses purposes (nothing like Redboxing a game when the patch download will take longer than 6 hours), although this information will most benefit the unlucky few in rural areas who unfortunately have very limited internet options, and may only have a single-digit number of gigabytes of download allowance a month (or less). This makes this gen somewhat challenging as there are quite a few games with always-online requirements and very large patches, and there's surprisingly limited information online, so a while back I started (out of boredom I guess) cataloging patch sizes for retail games. Basically, "how many gigs am I getting dinged if I patch this game" in db form. I was able to get quite a bit of information due to excessive spending and renting but there are still quite a few gaps, as well as games that have had patches since I last checked.
Some unfortunate news, though, is that a game which currently has a small (or at least manageable patch) may not stay that way forever. Destiny launched with something like a 200 meg day one patch, and now all retail copies have patch sizes exceeding 18 gigs to include the post-release content, much of which is paywalled (and you must download regardless of if you own the DLC or not, the "DLC" is just a 100kb unlock code); The Witcher 3 similarly launched with a patch of a few hundred megs and is now part of the 17ish gig club. So bear all of this in mind.
Many games are playable offline without patching but some games are pretty incomplete or buggy because of dev incompetence and expectation that patching is trivial for all. Or, more innocently, the game just has a lot of post-release content which may be free, although if you avoid playing multiplayer this could be a moot point. Worth noting is that both the PS4 and Xbox One will always attempt to patch recently-played games automatically with no way to disable this, so definitely be careful if you have very low download limits.
If you are a 100% offline gamer, the PS4 is the better deal, as the Xbox One can't be setup without an internet connection initially, and if you do need to patch those patches err towards the smaller side. But it's not a super-extreme difference at the end of the day, as long as you have internet for the initial setup.
Any help with missing or outdated information would be much appreciated (especially for games only available retail in European and Asian territories). Note that I'm only interested in listing patches for games available in disc form. Digital downloads are always pre-patched when you download them.
Here's a breakdown of how to get patch sizes, unfortunately the process is somewhat annoying and often requires re-downloading the patch you already downloaded.
PS4: Make sure the disc isn't in the drive and delete the local game installation if applicable. Patching an existing installation which already has a patch applied will list a smaller differential size which will be inaccurate.
Some games have blink-and-you-miss-it patch processes, so you can navigate to "Downloads" to spot the download size before it finishes, as it'll only show the size during an active download.
Once the game does its small initial installation and becomes "launchable", any patch should be queued automatically to download, and display its size in the "Downloads" menu.
Simply post the patch version number, the patch's size, and what game/edition it is (including if it's US, Europe, Asia etc.), and if you have any information on the game's "offline" capabilities (or lack thereof) or special notes if applicable.
Xbox One: A local installation can't be present, although if you want to avoid a redownload you can move an existing install to an external hard drive and then unplug the hard drive. If you don't have an external hard drive you'll have to uninstall all relevant items (e.g. some GOTY editions may include DLC items on the disc as well, and all of these will have to be removed).
Insert the disc and wait. It'll indicate installation is starting, and you'll get a popup asking you to confirm the patch download and its size.
For discs with multiple items, this size will be the total patch size for all items, which is fine for the most part, although for the "multiple games on one disc" titles like Borderlands Handsome Collection and Metro Redux I wouldn't mind separate patch size info which is trickier. You have to install the game fresh with no internet connection at all, then when the install is finished, hook up the internet and launch each game individually, which will give you each respective patch size.
Simply post the patch's size and what game/edition it is (including if it's US, Europe, Asia etc.), and if you have any information on the game's "offline" capabilities or special notes if applicable, including any nonstandard Kinect features (e.g. voice recognition, head tracking) and if the game employs impulse triggers or not.
PS4 Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/ps4-update-sizes/
Xbox One Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/xb1-update-sizes/
Bolded figures indicate information that's likely inaccurate/outdated.
The site also has lists of games which aren't available digitally if that interests you, I guess that can be discussed here. Also tell tales of your terrible internet!
PS4 Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/ps4-update-sizes/
Xbox One Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/xb1-update-sizes/
Congratulations to all of you who live in an area where fast internet with generous allowances is readily available. This thread may still be for you for game rental/going to friends' houses purposes (nothing like Redboxing a game when the patch download will take longer than 6 hours), although this information will most benefit the unlucky few in rural areas who unfortunately have very limited internet options, and may only have a single-digit number of gigabytes of download allowance a month (or less). This makes this gen somewhat challenging as there are quite a few games with always-online requirements and very large patches, and there's surprisingly limited information online, so a while back I started (out of boredom I guess) cataloging patch sizes for retail games. Basically, "how many gigs am I getting dinged if I patch this game" in db form. I was able to get quite a bit of information due to excessive spending and renting but there are still quite a few gaps, as well as games that have had patches since I last checked.
Some unfortunate news, though, is that a game which currently has a small (or at least manageable patch) may not stay that way forever. Destiny launched with something like a 200 meg day one patch, and now all retail copies have patch sizes exceeding 18 gigs to include the post-release content, much of which is paywalled (and you must download regardless of if you own the DLC or not, the "DLC" is just a 100kb unlock code); The Witcher 3 similarly launched with a patch of a few hundred megs and is now part of the 17ish gig club. So bear all of this in mind.
Many games are playable offline without patching but some games are pretty incomplete or buggy because of dev incompetence and expectation that patching is trivial for all. Or, more innocently, the game just has a lot of post-release content which may be free, although if you avoid playing multiplayer this could be a moot point. Worth noting is that both the PS4 and Xbox One will always attempt to patch recently-played games automatically with no way to disable this, so definitely be careful if you have very low download limits.
If you are a 100% offline gamer, the PS4 is the better deal, as the Xbox One can't be setup without an internet connection initially, and if you do need to patch those patches err towards the smaller side. But it's not a super-extreme difference at the end of the day, as long as you have internet for the initial setup.
Any help with missing or outdated information would be much appreciated (especially for games only available retail in European and Asian territories). Note that I'm only interested in listing patches for games available in disc form. Digital downloads are always pre-patched when you download them.
Here's a breakdown of how to get patch sizes, unfortunately the process is somewhat annoying and often requires re-downloading the patch you already downloaded.
PS4: Make sure the disc isn't in the drive and delete the local game installation if applicable. Patching an existing installation which already has a patch applied will list a smaller differential size which will be inaccurate.
Some games have blink-and-you-miss-it patch processes, so you can navigate to "Downloads" to spot the download size before it finishes, as it'll only show the size during an active download.
Once the game does its small initial installation and becomes "launchable", any patch should be queued automatically to download, and display its size in the "Downloads" menu.
Simply post the patch version number, the patch's size, and what game/edition it is (including if it's US, Europe, Asia etc.), and if you have any information on the game's "offline" capabilities (or lack thereof) or special notes if applicable.
Xbox One: A local installation can't be present, although if you want to avoid a redownload you can move an existing install to an external hard drive and then unplug the hard drive. If you don't have an external hard drive you'll have to uninstall all relevant items (e.g. some GOTY editions may include DLC items on the disc as well, and all of these will have to be removed).
Insert the disc and wait. It'll indicate installation is starting, and you'll get a popup asking you to confirm the patch download and its size.
For discs with multiple items, this size will be the total patch size for all items, which is fine for the most part, although for the "multiple games on one disc" titles like Borderlands Handsome Collection and Metro Redux I wouldn't mind separate patch size info which is trickier. You have to install the game fresh with no internet connection at all, then when the install is finished, hook up the internet and launch each game individually, which will give you each respective patch size.
Simply post the patch's size and what game/edition it is (including if it's US, Europe, Asia etc.), and if you have any information on the game's "offline" capabilities or special notes if applicable, including any nonstandard Kinect features (e.g. voice recognition, head tracking) and if the game employs impulse triggers or not.
PS4 Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/ps4-update-sizes/
Xbox One Update sizes: https://physicalgames.wordpress.com/xb1-update-sizes/
Bolded figures indicate information that's likely inaccurate/outdated.
The site also has lists of games which aren't available digitally if that interests you, I guess that can be discussed here. Also tell tales of your terrible internet!