As the next generation of game consoles begins, it's time for PC gamers to prepare for a significant hike in game specifications. Ubisoft recently posted, but then removed the PC specifications for their upcoming title Watch Dogs, revealing some hefty system requirements.
Watch Dogs requires a 64-bit operating system and a DirectX 11-capable graphics card, which is reasonably rare at the moment, but is sure to be the case with many next-gen cross-platform games. Ubisoft lists miniumum specifications as a quad-core CPU (such as the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600), a GPU with 1 GB of VRAM (such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 460), 4 GB of RAM and 20 GB of hard drive space.
If you want to run the game on higher settings, Ubisoft recommends an eight-core CPU, a graphics card with 2 GB of VRAM, and 8 GB of RAM. To play Watch Dogs at Ultra settings, you'll reportedly need something close to a GeForce GTX 670 and Intel Core i7-3930K in your PC.
With relatively high recommended system requirements, Watch Dogs is either going to push gaming PCs to the limits with beautiful visuals, or it's going to be an unoptimized PC port. With Ubisoft at the helm we're not really sure what to expect, but judging by early screenshots and a new engine (Disrupt) being used, hopefully it's visually impressive rather than a dodgy port.
Watch Dogs launches on November 19 for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U, and the game will also be available at both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One's launches of November 15 and November 22 respectively.