What you need to know
- Forspoken is an upcoming action-RPG game published by Square Enix and developed by Luminous Productions.
- The game's PC performance targets and spec requirements have been officially revealed.
- Forspoken will be the first PC game to fully support Microsoft's DirectStorage APIs for faster load times.
- Forspoken officially releases on Windows PCs and PS5 (as a console exclusive) on Jan. 24, 2023.
Forspoken is one of the first major releases of the year for PlayStation gamers, as it's a PS5 console exclusive that isn't heading to Xbox any time soon. However, those still invested in Microsoft's platform will still be able to experience Forspoken on a Windows PC, as the game launches day one through Steam and the Microsoft Store. On Tuesday, the Forspoken team revealed the game's PC performance targets and spec requirements.
Learn more about #Forspoken's PC performance and requirements. pic.twitter.com/3gEKwaz2opJanuary 17, 2023
Forspoken clearly demands a lot from the hardware on which it runs, since gamers will need a PC equipped with the latest and greatest components from NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD in order to push the title up to 4K and 60 FPS. Even achieving the minimum 720p and 30 FPS requires 16GB of RAM and at least an NVIDIA GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM. You can view the exact requirements and targets in the tweet above.
At least the PC-specific version of Forspoken will support additional features, such as customizable resolutions and aspect ratios (all the way up to 32:9 wide screen), Windows 11's dynamic refresh rate, HDR support, keyboard and mouse input, 7.1 surround sound, and more.
Forspoken is also the first PC game confirmed to fully support Microsoft's DirectStorage feature on Windows 11 PCs, which optimizes your SSD to achieve the fastest load times and most seamless transitions in games. With DirectStorage and the rest of the DirectX 12 Ultimate suite of features and APIs, Forspoken should provide a similar experience to the latest current-gen games on Xbox Series X|S and PS5.
In order to get the most out of Forspoken, you'll want an NVMe SSD and the latest version of Windows 11, although the game should run well on Windows 10 computers as well. It remains to be seen if Forspoken has what it takes to join the best PC games, but we won't have to wait long to find out. Forspoken releases on PS5 and Windows PCs on Jan. 24, 2023, and can now be pre-ordered directly from the Microsoft Store.
Windows Central's take
I can't claim to be overtly excited about Forspoken, a sentiment that matches many others who have failed to see the appeal in existing trailers and gameplay footage. I'm also concerned by the gap between the game's perceived visual fidelity and the abnormally high requirements to run the game on Windows PC, with even solid mid-range gaming PCs apparently struggling to play Forspoken beyond 30FPS.
Still, it's great to see games begin to support DirectStorage on Windows 11, which should help bridge the gap further between Microsoft's Xbox ecosystem and PC gamers. Anything that provides a superior gaming experience on existing hardware should be celebrated, and I'm interested to see how DirectStorage translates to real-world gains with titles like Forspoken. It's also intriguing that the first game to support a brand-new Microsoft gaming feature would be a PlayStation console exclusive.
