In brief: Strategy games aren't usually known to have the most demanding graphics and system requirements, but the specs for Homeworld 3 suggest it could be a significant exception. Regardless of settings, playing the game will require a good amount of memory and a decent GPU.
Blackbird Interactive has revealed system requirements for Homeworld 3, one of our most anticipated upcoming PC games, and they are more demanding than any competing real-time strategy game. The specs appear more similar to those for recent AAA action games with detailed characters and environments rather than a game about managing fleets of spaceships from a bird's-eye view.
Even on low graphics settings at 1080p, Homeworld 3 requires at least 12GB of RAM. All higher settings recommend 16GB, but the recommended graphics card for 1080p is a GeForce RTX 2070 or AMD or Intel equivalents. To play the game in 4K, Blackbird suggests an RTX 3080, a Radeon RX 6900 XT, or another GPU with at least 12GB of VRAM. Thankfully, the game only requires 40GB of storage space.
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However, those specs are for playing Homeworld 3 without ray tracing. The feature isn't typically associated with strategy games, and Blackbird hasn't explained how the game employs ray tracing, but the spec sheet lists three settings for it. The lowest, at 1080p, is manageable on recent mainstream cards like the RTX 3060 or RX 6650 XT. It isn't clear whether the system requirements account for upscaling, but Homeworld 3 supports FSR 2.0, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLSS Frame Generation.
The game's specs are easily on another level compared to recent strategy titles like Total War: Pharaoh. Dune: Spice Wars is somewhat closer, but the most similarly demanding strategy game is Cities: Skylines II, which faced sharp criticism for its performance issues. Hopefully, Homeworld 3's graphics and performance justify its steep requirements.
Blackbird hasn't said whether the game will receive a macOS version, but all other Homeworld titles support Macs. The previous two releases – Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak and the Homeworld Remastered Collection – received macOS ports a few months after their Windows release dates.
Homeworld 3 launches in February 2024. It's the first new entry since 2016's Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak and the first numbered title since Relic Entertainment released Homeworld 2 in 2003 – two decades ago. One of Homeworld 3's primary additions is the co-op "War Games" mode, where players conduct randomized battles with a roguelike-inspired progression system.