Civilization VI system requirements released

With so many high profile game releases coming up before the end of 2016 – Titanfall 2, Pokemon Sun and Moon, Battlefield 1 – you'd be forgiven if, like me, you forgot that Civilization VI is also scheduled for an autumn launch. There are a lot of people out there looking forward to Civilization VI (or, on the other hand, hoping for a return to form after the stumble that was Beyond Earth), and ahead of its October 21 launch, Firaxis and 2K Games have unleashed the game's system requirements.

The good news is that Civilization VI seems to be following in its predecessors' footsteps, in that you're not going to need a face-melting rig to play the game. The minimum requirements are especially forgiving, meaning that a wide variety of PC configurations should be able to run Civ VI. That was the end goal of Firaxis, as the company says it's worked hard to make the game as optimized as can be.

Take a gander at both the minimum and recommended specifications below:

Minimum

OS: Windows 7 64bit / 8.1 64bit / 10 64bit

PROCESSOR: Intel Core i3 2.5 Ghz or AMD Phenom II 2.6 Ghz or greater

MEMORY: 4 GB RAM

HARD DRIVE: 12 GB or more

DVD-ROM: Required for disc-based installation

VIDEO CARD: 1 GB DirectX 11 Video Card (AMD 5570 or nVidia 450)

Recommended

OS: Windows 7 64bit / 8.1 64bit / 10 64bit

PROCESSOR: Fourth generation Intel Core i5 2.5 Ghz or AMD FX8350 4.0 Ghz or greater

MEMORY: 8 GB RAM

HARD DRIVE: 12 GB or more

DVD-ROM: Required for disc-based installation

VIDEO CARD: 2 GB DirectX 11 Video Card (AMD 7970 or nVidia 770 or greater)

So all in all, these specifications aren't too bad. Of course, in addition to all of this hardware, you'll also want a good pair of headphones so you can better listen to Sean Bean's soothing English tones as he reads off the game's tech tree quotes.

Civilization VI launches on October 21 for PC – here's hoping it's a little more complete than Civ V was at launch and a bit more fun than Beyond Earth.