Blizzard have officially unveiled the system requirements for World of Warcraft’s next big update, Legion. Normally this wouldn’t be of much note, but this go round they’ve gotten fairly meaty, despite there not being a massive graphical upgrade in the works for WoW’s latest edition. There has never been an overhaul to Blizzard’s MMO when it comes to how it looks, but it has gone through several iterative improvements over the years.
Here’s everything else we know about World of Warcraft: Legion including the release window.
Here’s what Blizzard are billing the minimums at this time:
- Operating System: Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10 with latest service pack
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 or AMD Phenom II X3 720
- Video: NVIDIA® GeForce GT 440 or AMD Radeon HD 5670 or Intel HD Graphics 5000 NVIDIA
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Storage: 45 GB available hard drive space
- Internet: Broadband internet connection
- Media: DVD-ROM drive
- Input: Keyboard and mouse required. Other input devices are not supported.
- Resolution: 1024 x 768 minimum display resolution
Given I used to run WoW off an 8800GTS, that’s fairly shocking to see. Hell, my old 550ti that I was running until a few weeks back is only just above these, and below the recommendeds, which break down like this in the relevant sections:
- Windows 10
- Intel Core i5-3330, AMD FX-6300, or better
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 260X or better
- 4 GB RAM
What seems to be the meat of the improvement this time is the massive draw distance upgrade that’s been applied. You can see roughly twice as far in-game, which generally means there are obstructions before there is horizon. That’s an awful lot to render – but it’s only an additional option on top of many others. There has also been a wave of new animations, and of course Blizzard’s tech in other areas is improving over time too. That a PC from five years ago doesn’t hit the recommendeds does surprise me though, not least because Blizzard have always been good for reaching back, and WoW is hardly threatening the likes of Blade & Soul with how it looks.
Can you run it? Check the World of Warcraft system requirements on PCGameBenchmark.