Prey system requirements and 'advanced settings' confirmed

Bethesda Softworks rolled out a one-hour demo of Prey today, which is fantastic news unless you happen to want to play it on a PC: The demo, for reasons unknown, is only available on consoles. But we're not being sent away entirely empty-handed, as the PC system requirements and "advanced settings" options have also been (mostly) nailed down.

These are not the most detailed specs I've ever seen, but here you go.

Minimum:

CPU: Intel i5-2400, AMD FX-8320
GPU: GTX 660 2GB, AMD Radeon 7850 2GB
Memory: 8 GB

Recommended:

CPU: Intel i7-2600K, AMD FX-8350
GPU: GTX 970 4GB, AMD R9 290 4GB
Memory: 16 GB

And these are the advanced visual settings you'll be able to futz with. Information on recommended video drivers will be released later. As these things tend to go, the answer will probably be 'the newest ones.'

Object Detail
Shadow Quality
Texture Quality
Anisotropic Filtering
Anti-Aliasing
Horizontal Field of View
Screen Space Directional Occlusion
Screen Space Reflections

Storage space requirements weren't provided for the PC, but 38GB is "recommended" for the Xbox One version and the PS4 edition needs 42GB, so that's probably a fair ballpark measure to go by. Both of them will have a launch day patch, and it's safe to assume that the PC release will as well. The system requirements announcement also has a full list of Prey achievements if that's something you're interested in, but be warned that it's pretty heavy with spoilers.

Prey preloading on the PC will begin on May 3 (a specific time wasn't provided), and it will unlock on Steam at midnight ET on May 5.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.