NieR:Automata’s Steam update has a storage bug. Square Enix offers a workaround

The latest Steam update for NieR:Automata has created a problem before the game even starts: some installations are asking for far more storage than intended. Square Enix has acknowledged the fault and supplied a temporary workaround, rather than announcing that the game genuinely needs hundreds of gigabytes.

The publisher’s notice ties the problem to the November 6 update, dated in Japan. It says the cause is under investigation and a resolution is being prepared. At the time of that notice, the recommended way to install the base game at its intended size was to deselect the additional content in Steam’s DLC settings.

That distinction matters if an install prompt has sent you looking for files to delete. A storage request is a report from the installation process; in this case, the publisher explicitly says that request is wrong. It is not evidence of a new, enormous content expansion.

The workaround changes what Steam installs

These are the steps supplied by Square Enix, not a general instruction to remove game files by hand. Deselecting DLC changes the content selected for installation. It does not mean you have lost ownership of that content, and it should not be confused with a permanent fix to the update.

The notice does not give a repair time or explain which component caused the inflated request. It also does not establish that every existing installation is affected in the same way. If your game is already working normally, the announcement is not a reason to start deleting folders or rebuilding the installation unnecessarily.

A language update, with an installation fault attached

The accompanying language-support announcement adds Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean to the Steam version. That is a meaningful accessibility improvement for those audiences. It is also a separate question from whether Steam is allocating the correct amount of storage.

The current Steam listing remains the place to check the game’s published requirements and language options. Its requirements describe the product; the temporary notice describes an error in getting that product installed. Neither should be treated as a substitute for the other.

For players returning after a long break, this is an unusually visible example of the difference between owning an older game and having an uneventful route back into it. A small maintenance release can change the installer experience even when the underlying game is familiar.

Wait for the repair, rather than normalizing the bigger footprint

The useful next development is a publisher-confirmed correction to the installation problem. Until then, the DLC workaround is a limited route into the base game, with the limitation clearly attached: selected extras are being left out of the installation.

Square Enix has not said that the inflated footprint is a new requirement. The practical consequence is straightforward: an alarming space calculation should not become an unnecessary storage purchase. Start with the publisher’s workaround and its update notice, not with the assumption that NieR:Automata has suddenly outgrown your drive.