Alan Wake 2's out-of-the-blue system requirements change means you no longer need an RTX card to hit its minimum spec

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This one goes out to all the people still using GTX 1070s.

Alan Wake, a writer in a snazzy black suit, gives his all during The Herald of Darkness music video from Alan Wake 2.
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)

In a fantastic turn of events, Remedy has lowered the PC system requirements for Alan Wake 2. This means you can now enjoy the beauty of Bright Falls and all the horrors that lie within without needing a beefy PC. 

The performance optimisation patch for Alan Wake 2 lowers the minimum GPU requirement to a GeForce GTX 1070 or Radeon RX 5600 XT. Previously, you needed to have at least an RTX 2060 GPU to even think about playing the horrifying yet beautiful game. More modern GPUs also received some improvements. According to Digital Foundry, the recent patch saw the RTX 4070 enjoy a 14% frame rate jump.

However, an Intel i5-7600K or the AMD equivalent is still a minimum requirement, along with a minimum of 16GB RAM and 90GB SSD storage. So double-check the specs before purchasing this fantastic horror game—don't make the same mistake I did. 

When I first saw what the minimum requirements were for Alan Wake 2, I was a little shocked. Usually, I have no problem booting up whatever game I choose to play. However, I only just made the cut with my RTX 3070 if I wanted to use raytracing, and that still wasn't enough as I didn't have 16GB of RAM available. While I was lucky enough to play Alan Wake 2 on my PS5, it did feel like I missed out on the stunning vistas and beautifully crafted locations that PC players enjoyed. Walking through the sunlit forests or marvelling at the interchanging realities of Bright Falls and The Dark Place are just a few examples of this.

Alan Wake 2 is a fantastic horror game and a must-play if you're a fan of the genre. Not only were there plenty of terrifying moments as you fought off the poor locals of Bright Falls who had changed into Taken, but solving the odd mysteries in FBI agent Saga Anderson's mind place was great fun and a cool break from the action. 

The only problem now that Alan Wake 2 is more accessible on PC is that I'll have to finally buy some more RAM, spend another day downloading it, and prepare myself for all the jumpscares again—but I'm not complaining.  

Elie Gould
Elie Gould
News Writer

Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.