Specs9 September 20263 min read
WARDOGS system requirements
The official specs, straight off the Steam store page, plus an honest read on what they mean if you are buying or upgrading in South Africa.
The short version: Windows only, 64-bit. You need a GTX 1660 or RX 590 and 16 GB of RAM just to meet the minimum, and 50 GB of free storage. There is no Mac or Linux build.
Minimum
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5 8600 / AMD Ryzen 5 3500
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1660 / AMD Radeon RX 590
- Storage: 50 GB available
- Network: Broadband connection
- Target: 1080p Low at 60fps, upscaled
Recommended
- OS: Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i7 12700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia RTX 3070 / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
- Storage: 50 GB available
- Target: 1440p Medium at 70fps+ native, or 4K Medium at 60fps+ upscaled
Reading between the lines
A few things in that list are worth saying out loud, because store pages are written to sell and not to warn you.
- The minimum target is upscaled. "1080p Low @ 60fps (Upscaled)" means the game is not rendering at 1080p on a GTX 1660 — it is rendering lower and scaling up. If you are on minimum spec, expect a soft image and plan for Low settings, not Medium.
- 16 GB of RAM is the floor, not the target. Minimum and recommended are both 16 GB, which is unusual and tells you the game genuinely needs it. If you are still on 8 GB, that is your upgrade, and it is the cheapest one on this list by a distance.
- Recommended is a big jump. An RTX 3070 and a 12700K to hit 1440p Medium at 70fps is a demanding recommendation for a game whose selling point is a hundred players on a destructible map. Both of those things are CPU-hungry, which is likely why the CPU recommendation is so much steeper than the minimum.
- Windows only. No Mac build, and the developers have confirmed there is no Linux support via Proton at launch, though they have said it may come later. That also makes Steam Deck a no at release.
The 50 GB problem
Storage is the requirement that bites South Africans hardest, and not because of disk space. Fifty gigabytes, on a line shared with everyone else who is also pulling it in the first weeks after release, is the difference between playing tonight and playing tomorrow.
Clear the space before you buy, start the download the moment you do, and join the Discord while it runs rather than after. More on getting in without losing an evening in the South African release time guide.
Remember it is Early Access
WARDOGS released into Early Access, which matters for performance specifically: Early Access builds are routinely less optimised than a 1.0 release, and requirements can move during development. If you are sitting exactly on minimum spec, that is a real risk to weigh — more on that in our guide to the South African price and what Early Access means.
Not sure whether your machine will handle it? Ask in the Discord — once people are playing we will have real numbers from real South African rigs, which beats any spec sheet.