As a mobile gamer, you've had your fair share of frustration with games that couldn't be accommodated by your phone. Not everybody has phones that can shoulder heavy graphic needs, and most of us have scarce mobile space, which has us deleting all the videos and photos we have to make more room.
But we all have games we love too much, even if each of its updates makes our phones overheat a little more. If you plan on playing these games, be warned: you might have to delete other apps or throw your phone away altogether for a new one.
Updated on July 1, 2023, by Vanessa Esguerra: Mobile devices like smartphones continue getting bigger, stronger, and more advanced. With that, mobile game developers are capable of pushing the boundaries even further with what they can accomplish on such a small platform. The downside? Games are getting even bigger. We have new, extra beefy contenders to join the list, making for some of the highest GB games in the Play Store and App Store.
14 Player's Unknown Battlegrounds
PUBG has been running on mobile for a few years now, so it's no surprise that a lot of data could be accumulated through updates. Upon initial installation, you'll need 3GB of free storage. But as time went by, due to the updates on the map and other game modes, the average file size became 8GB for many active players.
PUBG is a must for first-person shooter players, and it sports all sorts of wacky skins, whether it be for your character or your rides. But be prepared to have sufficient space for it since it does consume more overtime.
13 My Hero Academia: The Strongest Hero
It's no surprise an action anime RPG is a whopping 8GB in size after your initial download. But it's probably no big issue for fans of My Hero Academia, who are getting impatient with waiting for the anime's latest season. Some fans might want to escape the realities of the manga updates through this game.
But you get to explore the world of My Hero Academia through Deku and experience what it's like to be a hero in the making in a mobile game if you're willing to spare 8GB in storage.
12 DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE
Maybe you're a lot more into old-school anime, and you're a fan of arcade-style games. DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE fits this bill, and there's a lot of fun watching Goku fight in cool action sequences. But even as a Dragon Ball Z fan, you'll be somewhat reluctant to download this game with its 8-10GB file size in total.
Or maybe no file size is too great for you when it comes to your favorite anime, and you're already scrubbing 8GB of data out of your phone to make way for this game.
11 Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
The mobile JRPG Final Fantasy Brave Exvius makes this list at a whopping 10GB, which is shocking since the initial download size indicates 133.2MB. But with all the battling and events you're about to do, all while following its interesting storyline, it's safe to say that the file size is bound to grow over time.
Whether it's exploring worlds, going through the many chapters, or collecting characters from this well-loved gacha game with a cute pixel art style, you're bound to make space for it in your phone and your life since this game will take up a lot of your time to explore as well.
10 Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds
This visual feast of an open-world game is recommended at a minimum of 10GB of free space in your phone. Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds asks for 1.6GB of your mobile space at first glance in IOS, but with its expansions and updates, it isn't surprising to hear that it will end up requiring a lot of space in your phone.
If that doesn't discourage you from playing the game, we can't blame you since it shows a distinct style that has Studio Ghibli's fingerprints all over it, from its animation to its music.
9 Tower Of Fantasy
You need 12GB upon installation and a lot more to ensure smooth gameplay in Tower of Fantasy. This open-world RPG takes place in a future timeline, where humans are driven out of Earth due to dwindling resources off to a planet named Aida. In this futuristic sci-fi world, you wake up with your memories wiped in an Astra Shelter.
By now, you've probably noticed that RPG games with an open-world setting require a lot of space for them to work flawlessly on your mobile device, which is a big but worthwhile sacrifice if you love the game.
8 Life Is Strange: Before The Storm
For a game that's been out for a few years, it might surprise that Life is Strange: Before the Storm takes up at least 10GB of storage. Instead of following Max in the story, you play through 16-year-old Chloe Price, who becomes Rachel Amber's friend. Each decision matters in the game and has consequences that affect the narrative of the game.
10GB of storage is definitely worth giving up if you're a Life is Strange fan and want a prequel to the original game starring Max. It's also relatively shorter to finish, taking a total of 13 hours of gameplay to complete the game.
7 Alien: Isolation
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Stealth horror game and mobile phone game doesn't seem to be a sound combination, especially when it's guaranteed to give you a terrifying jump scare that will get you tossing your phone away. Alien: Isolation is just that game, and you're a brave soul for risking your phone's fall.
But other than the terrifying creatures is the even more faint-inducing file size of 11GB. This game will eat your memory all in the name of giving yourself a heart attack. Anything for a good old shock if the file size wouldn't scare you away first.
6 Honkai: Star Rail
The first of Hoyoverse's games in this list is Honkai: Star Rail. This turn-based RPG is fun and detailed, and compared to its predecessor, this game's spaces are limited in exploration. But even the lack of areas to explore doesn't save this game from being 10GB, and that's a conservative file size that's expected to go up after many more patches to come.
Not everybody can accommodate most of the Hoyoverse games on their phones, so they'll probably have to choose one or two (at most) out of four mobile games from the same company.
5 Call Of Duty: Mobile
Call of Duty: Mobile has been out since 2019. Over the years, it has had a lot of changes in terms of its game modes and even mechanics, with different skills being added to the game. Unsurprisingly, it's managed to rack up 15GB worth of game data.
This is a huge leap from initially asking for 1.9GB in both Google Playstore and App Store. However, it's a game that's irresistible to co-op with friends and an enjoyable FPS, even for casual gamers.
4 Honkai Impact 3rd
As invested as you are in Kiana, Raiden, and Bronya's stores as valkyries in training, seeing 10-18GB of your storage gradually wiped away due to updates and events can be painful for anybody who has so little storage left.
That's part of the pains of being in love with Honkai Impact 3rd, and despite the huge file size, you can't seem to let go because you're in too deep within the story and have collected way too many battlesuits to abandon your account. If you haven't started yet, it's never too late to start playing.
3 Diablo Immortal
This MMOARPG that takes place sometime between Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction and Diablo 3 will eat up around 14GB of your storage. Diablo Immortal follows what happened after Tyrael destroyed the Worldstone and how Skarn is trying to patch the pieces of the Worldstone in order to ensure Eternal Conflict.
Diablo Immortal is notably one of the most downloaded games and doesn't disappoint in delivering, especially in its combat and overall gameplay. Although it did receive mixed criticism, it's still popular as ever, and you should check out for yourself whether this game does live up to its hype.
2 XCOM 2 Collection
This game about aliens and invasions will invade your phone storage, demanding 17GB of free space to avoid installation issues. But if you want a game that gives you nightmare fuel for the year 2035 being invaded by aliens who have full control of the human civilization, then you should go for this great turn-based strategy game and try to fight against said aliens.
It's also a good buy since you're buying XCOM 2: War of the Chosen and four other DLCs as a bundle in this collection.
1 Genshin Impact
Hoyoverse aims to release a new nation every year, which explains why the file size is gradually growing for Genshin Impact. Its mobile version, both in IOS and Android, requires a whopping 20GB for the game to be installed with all its files.
The size of this open-world game has significantly grown since its release. But we can't blame you for having it on your phone, especially if you aim to never miss your daily commissions and want a portable version of the game. 20GB for one app is painful, but that's not a bad sacrifice for never missing a day in-game, right?