World of Warcraft: Legion system requirements are here

World of Warcraft has come a long way, baby. From its debut in late 2004—almost 12 years ago!—to the pending release of Legion, the latest expansion, much has changed in the still dominant MMO, and also in the hardware you need to play it. To that end, Blizzard has posted the system requirements for Legion, and it's a stark reminder that what was adequate back in the day—12 years ago!—won't cut the mustard anymore.

OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 10 with latest service pack
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 or AMD Phenom II X3 720
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GT 440 or AMD Radeon HD 5670 or Intel HD Graphics 5000
RAM: 2 GB

And the recommended rig:

OS: Windows 10 64-bit with latest service pack
CPU: Intel Core i5-3330, AMD FX-6300, or better
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 260X or better
RAM: 4 GB

At either end of the spectrum, you'll also need 45 GB of available hard drive space, a broadband internet connection, a keyboard and a mouse, and a display device capable of at least 1024x768 resolution.

Just for fun, let's compare that with the minimum system requirements for the Cataclysm expansion that came out in 2010.

OS: Windows XP 32bit (SP3), Windows XP 64bit (SP2), Windows Vista 32bit (SP1), Windows Vista 64bit (SP1):
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500
GPU: Nvidia GeForce FX or ATI Radeon 9500 video card or better
RAM: 1 GB
HDD: 25 GB free hard drive space

And since we're horsing around, we might as well also have a look at the original system requirements, courtesy of the Wayback Machine:

OS: Windows System 98/ME/2000/XP
CPU: 800 MHz or higher CPU.
GPU: 32 MB 3D graphics card with hardware Transform and Lighting, such as GeForce 2 or better.
RAM: 256 MB
HDD: 4 GB

Kind of amazing, isn't it? This is what happens when a game manages to not just survive, but stay relevant, for 12 years. And counting: World of Warcraft: Legion is expected to be out on or before September 21.

PRODUCTS

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.