After recently spending time with Sea of Thieves, we couldn’t be more excited for its March 20 launch. And judging by the cooperative pirate adventure’s PC system requirements, Microsoft and Rare want the open sea to be available to as many aspiring treasure hunters as possible.
The handy chart below breaks down six different builds that will run Sea of Thieves (click on the image for easy viewing).
On the far left of the graph, you can see that Sea of Thieves will run on Intel Iris processors with integrated graphics. That means the game can be played on some ultrabooks and high-performance tablets like the Surface Pro 4. Yes, you will likely achieve 540p resolution and 30fps, but it is interesting that Rare has optimized the game for use on devices not typically viewed as gaming machines. Fair warning: Rare still considers this to be below the minimum requirements, hence the “Cursed” distinction at the bottom.
Even to achieve 1080p resolution, though, the requirements fall below many modern AAA PC games. Intel i3 4370 and AMD FX-6300 processors (or better) with mid-range graphics cards can hit 1080p and 30fps.
To experience Sea of Thieves in its recommended light — 1080p at 60fps — you need an Intel i5 4690 or AMD FX-8150 processor (or better) with a slightly higher grade graphics card. Still, hitting the recommended specs isn’t nearly as exclusive as we have come to expect with big budget PC games. The same processors can achieve 4K at 30fps if you have 16GB of RAM and a 4K ready graphics card.
For ideal 4K performance at 60fps, however, an Intel i7 4790 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor (or better) is required along with a high-end Nvidia or AMD card.
While the system requirements for Sea of Thieves create a low barrier for entry, the damage the game will do on your hard drive is another story. Be prepared to have 60GB free in order to play the game.
Sea of Thieves launches March 20 on Xbox One and PC. As part of the Xbox Play Anywhere program, one copy of the game gives you access on both platforms.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.