You may need to upgrade your system to play the new Half-Life game

There’s a new Half-Life game on the way, Half Life: Alyx, and it’s only playable in virtual reality. That’s not the only thing that could hold players back from giving it a try, however: The minimum specs needed to run the game are remarkably high, even for a virtual reality release.

Here are the minimum specs for the game, as noted on Steam:

• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Core i5-7500 / Ryzen 5 1600
• Memory: 12 GB RAM
• Graphics: GTX 1060 / RX 580 - 6GB VRAM

Holy moly. For reference, here are the minimum specs for the Valve Index itself:

• OS: Windows 10, SteamOS, Linux
• Processor: Dual Core with Hyper-Threading
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 / AMD RX480
• Network: Broadband internet connection
• Additional Notes: Available DisplayPort (Version1.2) and USB (2.0+) Port required

Those are the minimum specs, though. Here are the recommended specs for the Valve Index:

• Processor: Quad Core+
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or better
• Additional Notes: Available USB (3.0+) Port required for Headset Pass-Through Camera

The minimum specs for Half-Life: Alyx are comparable to the recommended specs for the Valve Index, which means that a lot of people are going to have to upgrade their system, and probably purchase a VR headset, before being able to play the next chapter in the Half-Life story.

Half-Life: Alyx will be released March 2020 on Steam. The game is powered by Valve’s SteamVR software and is compatible with all PC-based VR headsets, including Valve Index, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality. Half-Life: Alyx is priced at $59.99, but will be free for owners of Valve’s Index VR headset.