Starfield & Cyberpunk DLC PC Requirements Are Truly Egregious

By Muhammad QasimJune 13, 2023

3 minutes read

Muhammad Qasim is a certified Google IT Support Professional.

In terms of new releases, the last few years have been really rough, and we’re all used to a very upsetting trend of rushed and unoptimized releases. Whether it’s the PC port of The Last of Us Part 1 or the infamous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, we’re all aware that some games have a reputation for poor performance at launch.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a continuing trend, as “Starfield” and the upcoming “Phantom Liberty” DLC are now getting attention for their ridiculous PC requirements.

Starfield

Let’s start off with Starfield, that for some reason needs an SSD to play the game. While this may not seem like much, it’s crucial to remember that the vast majority of gamers use an SSD only for their operating system, and I seriously doubt that many of them will have an extra 125 GB of space available just to play the game.

We’re not sure if an NVMe is required, or a SATA SSD will do, but all we know is that you do need one. Plus, the requirements for the processor, and GPU are really demanding too, with an i5-10600K, and a 6800XT respectively for an optimal experience.

Now, I don’t know if these requirements are normal, but the 6800 XT has a meagre 0.23% share, according to Steam Hardware & Software Survey for May 2023. With the hype and excitement surrounding the release of Starfield, I’m sure a lot of people would definitely be disappointed seeing this.

You can take a look at the full system requirements for Starfield down below:

Starfield Full PC Requirements

Minimum:

OS: Windows 10 version 22H2 (10.0.19045)
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700, NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 125 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Required

Recommended:

OS: Windows 10/11 with updates
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel i5-10600K
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 125 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Required

Phantom Liberty DLC

If you think, the requirements for Starfield were absurd, wait till you look at what Phantom Liberty has in store for us.

This is exactly what most of us feel after going through the specifications | CDPR

Minimum:

Processor: Intel Core i7-6700 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB of VRAM / AMD Radeon RX 580 with 8 GB of VRAM.
Memory: 12 GB RAM
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit version
DirectX: 12 version
Disk space: 70 GB SSD

Recommended:

Processor: Intel Core i7-12700 / AMD Ryzen 7 7800
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super with 8 GB VRAM / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Arc A770 with 16 GB VRAM
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit version
DirectX: 12 version
Disk space: 70 GB SSD

Minimum (Ray Tracing):

Processor: Intel Core i7-19700 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 with 8 GB VRAM / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Arc A750 with 16 GB VRAM
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit version
DirectX: 12 version
Disk space: 70 GB SSD

Recommended (Ray Tracing):

Processor: Intel Core i9-12900 / AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with 12 GB of VRAM / AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX with 24 GB of VRAM
Memory: 20 GB RAM
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit version
DirectX: 12 version
Disk space: 70 GB SSD

Now, I don’t even know where to start, as even without ray-tracing enabled, you’ll need at least a R7 7800, paired with a 5700XT for a smooth experience. It’s been three long years, and CDPR has still not found a way to properly optimize their titles and seems as if they are rushing into releases.

Now, this is what the requirements are on-paper. Who knows if you’ll be greeted with an initial impression similar to that of Cyberpunk 2077 at launch. You pay $30 for the expansion, on top of Cyberpunk, and here’s what you get.

If this is what CDPR believes will stay for times to come, then I’ll not be surprised if the DLC doesn’t meet its sales expectations. Even if GPUs like 5700XT or higher are becoming increasingly popular, their market share is still less than 1%.

And, to say the least, R7 7800 as a recommended CPU appears to be a joke. It’s almost as if the developer is deliberately trying to persuade consumers not to purchase the game. The current starting price for a 7800X3D is $449 (as of this writing). Not to mention the exorbitant motherboard and DDR5 prices that come with it.

Given that the DLC is shaping out to be a costly one and that it itself raises the standard so high, there is no reason for people not to criticize it if it manages to somehow perform below average.