big 

BIG File Extension

Have a problem opening a .BIG file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what BIG files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.

What is the .BIG file type?

The .big extension is generally used to denote large compressed and/or encrypted binary container files (.big). There is no singe file format that would be applied to .big files, as such files are used by many different and independent games and applications.

One common use of the generic .big file type is related to games released by Electronic Arts (EA). Each EA game that relies on .big files to store its resources would use a slightly modified version of the EA BIG format.



Besides, many other games use .big containers to store their graphics, music, and sound effects, with a variety of different format specifications. Such .big files are a constant target of modding, and as a rule, for each game title that uses .big files there is an unofficial BIG-extraction and/or repackaging tool.

Apart from games, the .big file type also comes handy with certain applications that store large volumes of proprietary data. For instance, Sibelius, a major musical composition title, uses .big files to store collections of high-quality instrument samples that can be played within the program but cannot be easily extracted.



Software to open or convert BIG files

You can open BIG files with the following programs:
XnView
 
Dragon UnPACKer
Dragon UnPACKer by Alexandre Devilliers (aka Elbereth)
 
WinRAR
WinRAR by win.rar GmbH
 
XnView
XnView by Gougelet Pierre-e
 


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