Alan Wake 2's minimum specs have disqualified my gaming laptop, and now I question the financial viability of PC gaming
Oct. 26, 2023Opinion | Are AW2’s demanding GPU requirements a new normal? Hopefully not
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While this Alan Wake 2 revelation – that came one week out from release, no less – was not the first worrying sign I’ve seen from my ageing laptop, it’s by far the most significant. Being reminded of its mortality made me panic enough to seriously consider aPS5 Slim, but after giving it some more thought about what it means for PC optimization, I’ve reason to hope there’s life in the old guy yet.
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Check out ourAlan Wake 2 reviewto see why it’s an editor’s pick in our books.
Graphics cards are finicky things to upgrade in a gaming laptop. Soldered to the motherboard and essentially impossible to budge, I’ve known since day one that my beloved HP Pavilion would fade into technical obsolescence eventually because of it. I thought I’d made peace with my ageing GPU and its eventual need for replacement, but was apparently wrong about that.
The thought of having to play Alan Wake 2 on my Xbox Series S fills me with white hot dread. Not only am I frankly awful at third-person shooters without a mouse and keyboard setup, I’m resentful of the fact that I’m getting no say in the matter. There’s no issue at all withAlan Wake 2’s demanding PC specson the higher end – naturally, cranking up the quality with full ray-tracing is going to need a lot more juice than my GTX 1650 Ti can squeeze out. But even the usually more realistic “recommended” settings are mind-boggling. Essentially, if you’re running a GPU that’s more than a couple years old, many of us PC players will be left out in the cold.
Alan Wake 2’s system requirements will come as an especially sobering sting if you’re one of many who pre-ordered it. Developer Remedy Entertainment waited a mere week before launch to announce its PC specs, causing many let-down fans (including myself) to share their frustrations on Twitter. It all begs the question of whether Alan Wake 2 is properly optimized for a non-console experience at all, unless you’re running the highest end GPUs on the market.
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It all begs the question of whether Alan Wake 2 is properly optimized for a non-console experience at all.
This is not a contest of which games can perform with the oldest tech, and I’m not saying that you’d have a brilliant time playing either of the above titles on their lowest possible settings. Rather, Alan Wake 2’s PC optimization – or supposed lack thereof – points to the wider issue of financial accessibility in video games. I’m fortunate enough to have my Xbox Series S handy as a backup. I can only imagine the let down experienced by hundreds of excited fans when their 13-year long wait for an Alan Wake sequel ended in disappointment and refund requests last weekend.
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