Let’s say a game file size is 500MB. If there is a 100MB patch, does the file size go to 600MB? Or does it patch what’s needs and deletes the old files?
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“Patch” as a technical term traditionally means to replace targeted data within a file. So for example if there was a value that should be changed in a file, the patch would only store the difference between the original file and the patched version. Back in the day, often times software (including games) would be shipped entirely in a single binary/executable file and this was the most efficient method to ship updates, especially if they were being delivered over dial-up internet or BBSes. Patch files would be absolutely tiny, depending on what was in them.
These days, it’s more common to just replace the entire file of whatever you are changing because it’s no longer an issue of transmission speed (so why bother with that added complexity). Especially with games, which are usually installed as thousands of individual files, rather than a single monolithic file.
The name stuck though, as rather than the actual “patch” process described above, people came to associate “patch” with “software update”
So it depends on what is added/removed/changed as part of the patch whether the total install size goes up/down. If a lot of new content is added then installed size goes up of course.
If they’re just rebalancing the game and replacing some sound effects with better ones, you might not see much difference at all.
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