The game-developing company responsible for the Hitman series, IO Interactive, have revealed the specifications for PC gaming for their 007 First Light game which is yet to be released and has Bond as the protagonist. The internet did not react very positively to that, at least not directly. One brief tweet mentioned the figures, however, the subsequent replies, oh my, just pure and unfiltered chaos. It’s as if they had stirred a big graphics card hornet’s nest.
Why all the fuss? Let’s take a closer look at the issue. To really experience this game in full HD (1080p) and with an uninterrupted 60fps, you must own an exceptionally capable computer as per IO. Now this means that your CPU must be either an Intel Corei7-10700K or an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 32GB of memory must be installed in your computer and the graphics card must be RTX 3060 Ti or equivalent that has 12GB of VRAM. The minimum spec for 1080p/30fps is lower but still requires 16GB RAM and a GTX 1070 Ti. Gamers’ immediate response was the volcano that rose steeply.
“32GB of gigabyte is insane anyways,” JediSanjay was one of the users and honestly, that was one of the milder views. Others however, were less nice. Optimus_Mega slammed the specs asking, “Why a linear action game should use that much RAM?”, and adding, “It will be Horribly Optimized Trash”. This viewpoint was present in every corner. A user imbratorX was more direct: “Why is the required RAM for 1080p at 60fps so high that I feel talking about optimization bat?” The very end of the discussion is clear: the specifications seem to be unnecessarily high for the resolution and framerate they are targeting, which indicates badly done optimization.
And then there is the whole VRAM drama. The recommended spec that calls for 12GB VRAM left users of popular cards such as 10GB RTX 3080 feeling underserved. “RIP my 10GB RTX 3080 :(“, was the comment of Allyslayernl. The situation was not even getting clearer. The spec sheet mentioned an RTX 3060 Ti as the accurate performance metric, however, multiple users like kroshkaruiya1 quickly pointed out that the 3060 Ti does not have a 12GB model at all. The conversation in the replies shifted to whether people can read or not, with Scytian (Price_Crusader) trying to explain: “It says 12GB of VRAM and a card that performs like 3060 Ti.” Still, the mixed messaging only added fuel to the fire and made the specs come off as either sloppy or out of touch.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the optimization rage. Many people are already sick of it. GenshiKitsune asked, “i don’t get how games can be so poorly optimised like… they got cyberpunk running on the switch 2 why can’t pc games have that level or even anywhere close to that level of optimisation.” It’s a good point! If devs can put humongous open-world games onto portable hardware, what’s wrong with the PC ports that they sometimes feel so bulky and asking too much? User femdemdev called the jump between minimum and recommended specs weird, suggesting that the game “REALLY wants DDR5” RAM which is a whole other cost barrier for the gamers as it is expensive.
Of course, the lengthy discussion could not stay purely technical for long, and a few replies ventured into alternative… territories. DanukiTheTanuki stated, “I don’t want to play a DEI-infested game. No, thank you,” referring to the broader culture-war complaints. Another user, DoofyDEIAHires, went on a bizarre rant about a “tech mafia” and “an incoming purge.” It was a mess. However, those opinions were the exceptions; the main stream of anger was directly related to the hardware demand. Even the 80GB storage requirement got a mention with Burnouts3s3 saying, “That’s a big game!”
Some tried to put a positive spin on it like Juulegacyy who said, “those are respectable specs for recommended. At least it’ll run okay.” But they were easily muffled under the crowd chanting “unoptimized.”
