The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition jacks up PC system requirements
The cost of doing business
As previewed by Alice Bee, The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition doesn’t simply bundle up Obsidian’s spacefaring RPG with its DLC expansions. It’s also an unexpected remaster, redoing and fine-tuning everything from companion AI and facial animations to weather effects and dynamic lighting. It’s an enticing prospect for a game that never previously counted visuals as its strong suit, though there will be a catch: the Spacer’s Choice Edition will have significantly higher PC system requirements than the 2019 original.
Whereas the minimum specs once asked for ancient CPUs and graphics cards, like the AMD Phenom II X6 1100T, GeForce GTX 650 Ti, or Radeon HD 7850, The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition will want at least a 6GB GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 590. And that’s apparently just for 30fps from the lowest quality settings at 720p, not even a resolution you’d get on any self-respecting gaming monitor.
The new recommended spec, for High settings, 1080p and 60fps, goes on to list the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, GeForce RTX 2070 and Radeon RX 6700 XT as suggested GPUs. A far cry from the (now relegated) GTX 1060 and Radeon RX 470 that the original recommended. RAM requirements are up as well: 12GB minimum and 16GB recommended, up from 4GB and 8GB respectively.
These are surprisingly long leaps, considering The Outer Worlds is less than four years old, though in fairness these requirements aren’t outrageously high either. Plenty of other 2023 releases have listed the GTX 1060 as a minimum GPU, and current Steam-crashing darling Sons of the Forest also names the GTX 1080 Ti as a recommended option.
It sounds like there are loads of graphical improvements to have in exchange, too. Word from co-developers Obsidian and Virtuos is that they’ve reworked visual effects for explosions, weapons, environments and particles, added dynamic wind, cloud, and sandstorm effects, improved how foliage reacts to wind, touched up water effects, added more dynamic lights, improved character models and animations, and added all-new NPC animations.
Sadly, the Spacer’s Choice Edition won’t be a free upgrade if you already own The Outer Worlds and its DLCs (Murder on Eridanos and Peril on Gorgon are both included). Though it will be sold at a "reduced purchase price" to owners of the original, should you want to check out that polishing work for yourself.
Here are the full system specs, for posterity:
The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition minimum PC requirements
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- RAM: 12GB
- GPU: Geforce GTX 1060 6 GB or Radeon RX 590
- Storage: HDD or SSD
The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition recommended PC requirements
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- CPU: Intel Core i7-8700 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- RAM: 16GB
- GPU: GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or GeForce RTX 2070 or Radeon RX 6700 XT
- Storage: SSD