Returnal hits PC on February 15th and won’t need 32GB of RAM after all

We have a date — Returnal, one of the first compelling PS5 exclusives, is making the jump to PC on February 15th. Sony announced the date today in an official blog post that also reveals the haunting alien 3D bullet hell’s full PC system requirements — and lists a remarkable number of flagship PC gaming features.

The biggest surprise is probably this: the game no longer recommends 32GB of RAM. In December, we reported that Returnal would be one of the very first games to ask for that much memory, but it’s no longer part of the “recommended” spec. Now, Sony suggests you’ll be able to hit 1080p 60fps at “high” levels of detail with just 16GB of RAM, an RTX 2070 Super or RX 6700 XT, and a 3.7GHz Intel i7-8700, Ryzen 7 2700X, or better.

All specs do recommend you load the game from a solid state drive, which makes sense — Returnal was one of the first PS5 games to make obvious use of faster storage.

If that sounds like a light lift for your PC, though, you can absolutely go higher than that. You can play at 4K, with ray tracing for shadows and / or reflections, and there’s an “epic” graphics tier that does recommend 32GB of RAM plus an RTX 3080, RX 6800 XT, or better. And the game will support ultrawide monitors at both 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios — like the monster Samsung Odyssey G9 lineup and its new competition.

The game will also feature Dolby Atmos audio — assuming you plug it into a compatible speaker system — and you can plug in your PS5’s DualSense controller to experience the game’s excellent haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and extra immersive sound from the controller speaker.

If you don’t have the horsepower for your configuration of choice, the game will also feature AMD FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling techniques — though Sony doesn’t say which versions. And with Sony recommending a GTX 1060 just to hit 720p 60fps at low spec, I suspect the Steam Deck will have a tough time. Fingers crossed for a solid 40fps, but I bet it’ll be a 30fps game there.

Either way, it’s great to see Sony wholeheartedly support the PC as planned. It’s a welcome change from the days it expected people to buy proprietary discs and memory sticks to play its titles. I wonder if Sony might go the more open route with PSVR2 games as well.