Sony confirmed in December 2022 that the previously-PS5 exclusive Returnal would be released for PC in early 2023, and it wasn't kidding: Today it announced that the sci-fi roguelike will finally come our way on February 15.
The Returnal launch date comes alongside more information about a range of PC-specific features that have been added to the game, including support for Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR, and Nvidia Image Scaling. Returnal on PC will also support ray traced reflections (the original PS5 version that released in 2021 only supports ray traced shadows), and 21:9 (ultrawide) and 32:9 (super ultrawide) display resolutions. Controllers are recommended but keyboard and mouse are fully supported, "with a wide range of customisation options to tailor the controls to whatever suits you."
The most interesting part of the announcement—aside from the launch date—has to be the updated system requirements. We got our first look at the PC requirements in December 2022 courtesy of Steam, and they were an eye-popper: The recommended spec called for, among other things, 32GB RAM. That's out of reach of an awful lot of PC gamers: The semi-scientific Steam hardware and software survey indicates that three-quarters of systems surveyed are running with either 8GB or 16GB installed.
Today's announcement serves up a more detailed breakdown of hardware requirements, and dials back the recommended RAM to just 16GB. The recommended specification on Steam also now calls for 16GB instead of 32GB. As is the way of things these days, however, the "recommended" spec is just middle of the pack, so make of it what you will.
Here's the full and final breakdown of what you'll need to play:
Minimum (720p, 60fpx, low graphics settings)
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8 GB)
- CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 (4 core 2.7GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (4 core 3.5GHz)
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 60GB HDD
Medium (1080p, 60fps, medium graphics settings)
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB)
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 (6 core 2.8GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 core 3.4GHZ) 3.5GHz)
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 60GB SSD
Recommended (1080p, 60fps, high graphics settings)
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB)
- CPU: Intel i7-8700 (6 core 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (8 core 3.7 GHz)
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 60GB SSD
Epic (4K, 60fps, epic graphics settings)
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3080 (10 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB)
- CPU: Intel i7-9700K (8 core 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8 core 3.6 GHz)
- RAM: 32GB DDR4
- Storage: 60GB SSD
Ray Tracing (4K, 60 fps, epic graphics settings)
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB)
- CPU: Intel i9-11900K (8 core 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 core 3.7 GHz)
- RAM: 32GB DDR4
- Storage: 60GB SSD
And now, enjoy some screens.
