Returnal is going to push your PC’s memory to the limit
Sony's next PS5-to-PC port is pushing system requirements sky-high
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Returnal’s RAM
🐏 Returnal will ask a lot of your gaming rig’s RAM when it hops over to PC
😮 The sci-fi roguelite’s system requirements suggest a minimum of 16GB and recommend 32GB
💪 Most hardware-intensive games only suggest 16GB RAM or less
🌟 Hopefully that means some very snazzy new features are coming
The upcoming PC port of sci-fi rogulelite Returnal, recently revealed at the The Game Awards 2022, will make big demands of your gaming PC’s RAM.
While most top-of-the-line, triple-A games need 8GB RAM at minimum and usually recommend 16GB to support ultra-high graphics settings, Returnal is bucking the trend. As the game’s Steam page shows, Housemarque’s roguelite will need a minimum of 16GB RAM to run, but comes with a 32GB recommendation if you want to experience it to its fullest.
You won’t find those recommended specs on many other games, even among the most graphically intensive and expansive releases of the last few years that are known for pushing gaming rigs to their limit. Microsoft Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite recommend only a maximum of 16GB, while others like Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Metro Exodus suggest even less.
It’s unclear why the game needs such a large amount of RAM. Its other system requirements are demanding, but not astronomical: its minimum requirements call for an Intel Core i5-6400 CPU and the rather dated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, while you’ll be needing an i7-8700 and Nvidia RTX 2070 to render prettier visuals.
Returnal is already one of the best PS5 games and has likely had a hefty glow-up on its way to PC, but even that doesn’t fully explain its sky-high RAM requirements. Previous ports of PlayStation exclusives, like God of War or Spider-Man: Miles Morales, don’t recommend above 16GB, and you only need 32GB if you want to run Spider-Man’s “ultimate ray-tracing” mode.
“For our PC version there will be an array of PC-specific tweaks and upgrades to make sure that the experience is as fluid as possible,” Mikael Haveri, Housemarque’s brand director, said on the PlayStation blog. “More on these details later, but rest assured that you will be faced with a cutting-edge Housemarque challenge, and the bells and whistles are there to support the gameplay experience”.
Of course, if you don’t have a gaming rig capable of playing Returnal, and don’t want to shell out for one, you could always secure a PS5 restock to play the game on its original console system.