We might have spoken too soon about STALKER 2‘s rather huge storage requirements. GSC Game World, the developer studio of the upcoming FPS, just posted on X/Twitter about STALKER 2‘s updated requirements. It’s looking rather grim for anyone with no budget for upgrades this year. Turns out STALKER 2 is going to be considerably more demanding, which isn’t exactly new for the franchise.
Here’s what GSC Game World had to say about the updated and official PC system requirements for STALKER 2:
Sadly, even the high-end RTX 4070 might struggle for the true 4K experience. Anything above 1080p will need 32GB of RAM. 1440p is steadily becoming the new norm for most gamers. That said, 1080p is still the most common monitor resolution for PC gamers.
What’s not clear, however, was whether these tests were done under upscaling (DLSS/FSR) because if they were, then we might be looking at the new Crysis of FPS games. GSC Game World also replied to other X users that there will be DLSS and FSR (and hopefully Frame Generation).
Higher Requirements Across the Board
It’s also not clear whether these system tests involved ray tracing. One of the likely reasons for the higher system requirements was due to Unreal Engine 5. The new game engine has a reputation for being demanding.
Moreover, the previous 150 GB of storage has now been bumped up to 160 GB likely due to higher resolution textures compared to the Xbox version. That one only required around 146+ GB.
Last but not least, the previously lenient 8 GB requirement for the “Low” preset is now gone, reduced to atoms. 16 GB is now the baseline for the whole game. So, as it is right now, STALKER 2 might convince you to upgrade not just your storage but also the rest of your PC gaming hardware.
For all we know, Xbox could also affected since there will be compromises for visual quality to keep a steady 60 FPS. All that’s left is to wait and see what STALKER 2 and its increased system requirements will bring on November 20, 2024.
