Gamers, and people that don’t game, often assume that online games use a plethora of internet data when running. It’s an understandable assumption since online games often use beautiful, high-resolution graphics and also respond to your every click and mouse move.
It makes sense that this would use up more internet usage, however, this is not the case. Online games use less internet than people may guess. So if you’ve been concerned about your internet usage when gaming, we’re here to tell you that that worry is for nothing.
Read on to learn how much internet your online games are actually using, and who the more likely culprit of your empty bandwidth is.
Short Answer
Today, the majority of modern online games use between 40MB and 180MB every hour.
The highest amount of data used by a game is about 300MB and the lowest is around just 15GB.
Busting the Gaming Myth
Many people love to accuse gamers of hogging internet bandwidth and using excessive internet data to stream games. However, they are sorely mistaken. Most games use as much internet to stream as Netflix does to play a show.
If you’re concerned about your internet use while gaming, you can relax because it probably isn’t that serious.
Comparing Other Activities
The following is a list of common internet activities and how much internet they each use per hour.
- Video calls – 200MB
- Music streaming – 100MB
- Online Gaming – 300MB
- Video Streaming – 1GB
- HD Video Streaming – 3GB
As you can see, online gaming uses a moderate amount of internet. And when compared with Netflix streaming, probably the most common activity, it uses a fraction of the internet. If you feel guilty playing Fortnight for hours but don’t mind letting Netflix play while you sleep, you may be misinterpreting internet usage.
Popular Games and Their Data Usage
Here are some of the most popular online games and how much of your internet they use up during one hour of streaming.
- Fortnight – 15MB
- Overwatch – 135MB
- Counter-Strike – 250MB
- Valorant – 120MB
- Dota 2 – 100MB
- Call of Duty: Warzone – 150MB
- Battlefield V – 110Mb
- Apex Legends- 120MB
- League of Legends – 50MB
- Minecraft – 80MB (note: these 80MB of data usage have nothing to do with Minecraft hosting usage which is handled by the hosting company renting you the server. A common misconception).
- GTA Online – 70MB
- Rocket League – 40MB
The range of internet usage in these games is wider than you may expect. But this list proves that streaming online games doesn’t hog as much internet as some people may think.
Best Gaming Chairs
Source: Shutterstock
These are our top three gaming chairs for people that want to spend hours playing. Now that you know you don’t have to feel bad about your internet usage while gaming, you can blissfully spend hours and hours in front of your monitor. With the enjoyable gaming hours, can come neck and back discomfort and body pain. To avoid this, upgrade to one of these fantastic gaming chairs:
Logitech G x Herman Miller Embody
Herman Miller is a trusted company for office furniture, but their chairs are also a gift to hardcore gamers. We recommend adding a detachable headrest to this chair, but other than its lack of neck support it is an optimal chair. The Herman Miller Embody focuses on back support and correcting your posture while you game. The slightly raised seat bottom also helps promote blood and oxygen flow.
Secretlab Omega
One of our favorite gaming chairs is this Secretlab Omega because it hugs your body to keep you comfortable for hours while gaming. The velour memory foam pillows are soft but firm enough to stop you from sinking into the chair. The chair also has a highly adjustable tilt tension, so you can recline and relax or sit up and focus.
AndaSeat Kaiser 2
The Kaiser is a great chair for larger players or gamers that want to have a little wiggle room in their chair. The material is soft and the chair is well-padded, ideal for long hours of gaming. The chair pays special attention to the back and lumbar support for extended periods. If you tend to feel pain or discomfort in your lower back after gaming for a while, this is likely a great chair for you.
Bottom Line
If you’re worried you’re using up too much of your bandwidth on online gaming, you can stop worrying. Online gaming doesn’t use much more internet than streaming music via Spotify or Apple Music does every hour.
And if you watch Netflix, especially in HD, your online gaming is the least of your internet worries. Hopefully, this guide has helped you to put your gaming and internet use in perspective so you can prioritize the online activities that are important to you.
Online gaming is one of the best ways to pass your free time because it is entertaining and stimulating. So don’t listen to the naysayers that want to demonize gaming as a succubus on the internet, when it’s simply not.
We hope our guide to gaming with the internet clued you into the truth about internet usage while gaming. So there’s no reason to give up Overwatch or reduce your League of Legends time.
FAQs
What is bandwidth?
Bandwidth is a range of frequencies within a given band used for transmitting a signal. Your bandwidth is the maximum amount of internet usage your setup can handle in a given amount of time, usually 24 hours.
Are bandwidth and internet speed the same thing?
No, but many people confuse the two. Bandwidth is like the capacity of the internet, while the speed is how quickly the bandwidth internet translates to your device for streaming. Just because something is streaming slowly or not loading, this doesn’t mean you’ve reached or exceeded your bandwidth.
How much internet is normal to use in one day?
The average amount of internet used by people in America is 1GB or 1000MB per day. So a full day of streaming HD Netflix will rack up an astonishing amount of internet usage. A way that many people probably spend their weekends.
