Apart from going back and deleting your games, there is another, albeit, riskier option - replacing the console's hard drive. The problem? As we've pointed out before, this completely voids the Xbox One's warranty.
According to a new video from IGN, it seems there's an interesting problem with the 500 GB Xbox One, in that the hard drive is "full" at only 362 GB, meaning that something is mysteriously gobbling up almost 150 GB of the console's supposedly free space.
After roughly 20 games, the staff of the outlet reports they were left unable to install Zoo Tycoon, which requires a mere only 3 GB.
Assuming IGN is truthful in that that the console in use isn't chock full of save data, recorded footage, etc., then according to Microsoft, it's the console's OS and native apps that are taking up the astounding amount of footage.
According to some teardowns, the Xbox One has closer to 390 GB for gamers to use as they see fit, which would mean that 28 GB of space is being gobbled up by the OS and apps.
While most of you out there likely don't have every last Xbox One game in your possession, you also likely won't run into this sort of problem any time soon. Unfortunately, it seems like the issue seems inevitable, which leaves gamers with little if any options once the do come to the seemingly dead end.
Updates to the OS are said to be on the way, but it's unknown how much that will change the space requirements, if at all. Likewise, support for external hard drives are said to be on the way, but isn't there yet. The video also makes mention of storing games via Cloud, but not everyone's that patient, and gamers will no doubt be full of piss and vinegar at Microsoft's expense.
So what are the options? For the gamers in just such a minority, they're unfortunately slim, but there is one desperate option.
As you may or may not know, the Xbox One's hard drive is replaceable...technically. And as we learned from a teardown shortly before the console launched, is seemingly easy enough. The good folks at iFixit discovered that anyone with the right tools can pop open the console's side grill, release the metal chassis, thereby revealing the 2.5 SATA II hard drive. The catch is that swapping it out utterly voids the warranty. But for you devil-may-care types with cash to burn, you're not gonna let that stop you, right?
There's a new teardown video (seen below) that offers a how to guide on taking the console apart, accessing the hard drive, and how to release and replace it. It's sort of like "This Old House" if Bob Villa worked on video game consoles and sounded like Bob Ross. It even has recommended tools and replacement parts in the description with links to where you can grab 'em.
According to iRobotGaming, replacing the hard drive can lead to a 20% increase in speed (depending on the type of hard drive you upgraded to), and the console will accept a 1 TB hard drive or larger. Do I recommend this method? Because I'm completely convinced I'd no doubt screw something up during the process, no. But the choice is yours. Check the video out below and follow along if you're feeling ballsy.