Microsoft and Remedy announced today the official system requirements to play Quantum Break on PC, along with the PC version’s official release date (via DSOG). There is good news and bad news here. You’ll be able to play the game on April 5, the same day it releases for Xbox One. The bad news is that it looks like if you haven’t upgraded your rig in a while – particularly the video card – and you really want to play Remedy’s time-warping shooter, you may want to buy some new equipment. Here’s the full requirements:
Minimum Requirements
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- DirectX: DirectX 12
- CPU: Intel Core i5-4460, 2.70GHz or AMD FX-6300
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or AMD Radeon R7 260x
- VRAM: 2GB
- RAM: 8 GB
- HDD: 55 GB available space
Recommended Specs
- OS: Windows 10 (64 bit)
- DirectX: DirectX 12
- CPU: Intel Core i7 4790, 4GHz or AMD equivalent
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 980 Ti or AMD Radeon R9 Fury X
- VRAM: 6 GB
- RAM: 16 GB
- HDD: 55 GB available space
Ouch. There’s a distinct possibility that the minimum requirements for this game are similar to or more powerful than the equipment many PC gamers currently have in their rigs. As for the recommended requirements – that’s top-of-the-line stuff right there. Even a GTX 970, which falls between the minimum and recommended specs, only has 4 GB of VRAM (technically 3.5), and that card is still considered somewhat high end for today’s market.
These somewhat outlandish specs most likely have something to do with the game requiring DirectX 12. Even with that consideration, it’s more likely that this is another poorly optimized console port that hasn’t been coded to properly take advantage of PC hardware. PC gamers are used to this, unfortunately. There’s also the possibility that this game is appropriately optimized, and instead looks so good that the high barrier to entry is justified.
In related news, if you pre-order Quantum Break on Xbox One, or pre-order its special edition console, you’ll get a Windows 10 copy for free. Does this news make you more likely to purchase Microsoft’s console, if you haven’t already? Or are you plain angry about the very high system requirements? Let us know in the comments.
