Watch Dogs PC Game to Require 64-bit OS

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Ubisoft leaked the system requirements for the PC version of Watch Dogs.

Although the information appears to have been pulled, the Uplay download page for the PC version of Watch Dogs supposedly provided the system requirements. Luckily the specs were snatched up and posted over on NeoGAF before they disappeared, revealing that Watch Dogs on PC only supports 64-bit operating systems: Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7 (SP1) or Windows 8.

According to the post, Ubisoft provided four sets of system specs: Base, Minimum, Recommended and Ultra. The first "Base" list stated that the game will only support 64-bit platforms, and will require 20 GB of space on the hard drive, a DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card with the latest drivers, and a broadband Internet connection for multiplayer mode.

For the "Minimum" requirements, PC gamers will need a DirectX 11 graphics card with 1 GB of video RAM, a quad-core processor, and 4 GB of RAM. Prime examples are Nvidia's GeForce GTX 460 and AMD's Radeon HD 5770 on the GPU front, and Intel's Core2 Quad Q6600 or AMD's Phenom X4 9750 on the CPU front.

The "Recommended" specs for PC gamers is a bit more meaty, requiring a DirectX 11 graphics card with 2 GB of video RAM, an eight-core processor and 8 GB of RAM. Qualified hardware includes Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560 Ti and AMD's Radeon HD 7850 in the GPU department, and Intel's Core i7-3770 and AMD's FX-8350 for CPUs.

Finally, we have the "Ultra" group. To meet this requirement, gamers will need a DirectX 11 graphics card with 2 GB of video RAM or more, the latest eight-core CPU or more, and 8 GB or more RAM. This includes Nvidia's GeForce GTX 670 and AMD's Radeon HD 7970 for GPUs, and Intel's Core i7-3930K and AMD's FX-9370 for CPUs.

Watch Dogs is slated to arrive on the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U on November 19. Release dates for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions are currently unknown. The PC version will also support exclusive Nvidia features as part of Ubisoft's alliance with the GPU company, and will likely play a major role in Nvidia's Battlebox initiative this holiday season.

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Kevin Parrish
95 Comments Comment from the forums
  • clonazepam
    I'm keeping an eye on this title, but like others have said, it has potential to be repetitive. I really hope we see x64 being a requirement because it actually needs what only x64 can provide. Still, I'm skeptical that at this point, they would exclude 32-bit users since this title seems to have such wide appeal.

    Side note: the main character can carry automatic rifles in his pants pocket! lol
    Reply
  • Pinhedd
    Is Tom's inventing CPUs now?
    Reply
  • opmopadop
    a i7-3990k... a FX-9370...

    The 'ultra' requirements are insane. Do the CPUs even exist as retail parts yet?

    edit : linked article states i7-3930k, oops Toms.
    Reply
  • edogawa
    Battlefield 4 has a 64 bit version, Watch Dogs has a 64 bit version, and I'm sure more games will start being 64 bit. Now that the consoles have come out games will start using more memory; this can only be good.
    Reply
  • Akizu
    Oh... So now quad-core with HT equals eight-core? Oh well...
    It will be interesting to see if there will really be no 32bit version but considering they list 4GB of RAM in "minimum" requirements it wouldn't be all that surprising.

    Those requirements seem a bit high but it might be a good sign... Many games have high requirements for "Ultra" graphics but quite low "minimum" requirements as graphics can be easily scaled and in most new games developers put everything they have into graphics, forgetting about AI and background scripts. Here even basic requirements are quite high and a good CPU is required, not only GPU, so I hope there is a lot of stuff going on in background. Just imagine how much more awesome games like Skyrim would be if there was better AI and real simulated economy, factions, etc. and not pre-scripted/randomised crap that runs only when you're around. I might be overly optimistic as always, but I do hope they are going in a good direction and that there will really be some more stuff going on in background than in most games.
    Reply
  • firefoxx04
    This is good to see. Im sure it will run fine on older hardware but knowing that I can get an overkill intel or 8core amd and benefit from it is nice to know.

    I hope it can take advantage of hypethreading, that would be really cool.
    Reply
  • joecole1572
    I am very skeptical about the 8 core recommended requirement. I know that the next gen consoles have the 8 "core" APUs, but I seriously doubt that they couldn't optimize the CPU stuff to work on 4 cores. I guess time will tell if this is an optimization issue on Ubisoft's part (although they did state that they are building the PC version first and then porting it to PS4 and Xbox one) or if the new standard for games will be 8 cores.

    That being said, Watch_Dogs looks like it has some pretty awesome tech running it, so I guess it could be worth it to run it on Ultra.
    Reply
  • cramved
    what is a 3990k?
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    All games need to push this. Kill off the remaining XP gamers and push the straggling 32Bit gamers who use 8GB of RAM on a 32Bit OS.
    Reply
  • smeezekitty
    I find this disappointing (not because I would buy the game, but because of requirements continuing to spiral out of control) - many users still use 32 bits. I actually use a 32 bit OS somewhat on purpose because I still run 16 bit (!) programs.
    Reply