Holy crap, Returnal on PC recommends 32GB of RAM

Returnal has been confirmed for PC, but the recommended RAM on its system requirements is raising eyebrows.

Over on Returnal's Steam page, you can check out the minimum and recommended PC specs. It's a gorgeous, expansive game on PS5, so it's not surprising to see it requires halfway decent hardware to run on PC. 

The recommended CPU is an Intel i7-8700 or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, while an RTX 2070 Super (8GB) or AMD RX 6700 XT (12GB) GPU is suggested for optimal performance. Those are fairly demanding system requirements, but nothing out of the ordinary for a new triple-A game. However, the game's Steam page also recommends a whopping 32GB of RAM on deck to play Returnal at peak performance, and that most certainly isn't ordinary.

The game only requires 16 GB of RAM to run, but you'll apparently want twice that if you want the best experience. If you compare that to other demanding games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Cyberpunk 2077, and Red Dead Redemption 2, you'll see the most they'll advise is 16GB of RAM – the minimum amount Returnal suggests. 

The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, another triple-AAA PlayStation port, also only wants 16GB. I scanned a bunch of other games that would make my poor ol' 8th-gen i5 / RX 580 combo melt, and none of them recommended more than 16GB of RAM either. 

Asking for 32GB of RAM is so unusual, in fact, that myself and a colleague wondered aloud whether someone had simply messed up when writing up the requirements, and for that reason, I've reached out for confirmation. I'll update this article if I hear back. 

If you are jumping in for the first time, here are some Returnal tips you'll want to know ahead of time.