The Outer Worlds 2 PC Specs and Steam Deck Status: What Your PC Needs

The Outer Worlds 2 launches December 2, 2026 on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Obsidian’s sequel brings modern graphics features: ray tracing, DLSS/FSR/XeSS upscaling, HDR, and ultra-wide support. The system requirements reflect that.

Official PC system requirements (from Steam)

What this means for your build

• 16 GB RAM is the floor: both minimum and recommended ask for 16 GB. This is unusual; typically recommended specs ask for more memory. It suggests the game is optimized to run well at 16 GB across a wide range of hardware, with the GPU doing the heavy lifting for visual fidelity.
• SSD is mandatory: 110 GB on solid-state storage. No mechanical drive option is listed.
• Minimum GPU (RX 5700 / GTX 1070 / Arc A580) targets 1080p at playable frame rates with settings turned down. The GTX 1070 is a 2016 card; the RX 5700 is 2019. Most mid-range PCs from the last 5-6 years will clear this bar.
• Recommended GPU (RX 6800 XT / RTX 3080) targets higher resolutions and frame rates with ray tracing and upscaling enabled.
• Upscaling support: DLSS (NVIDIA), FSR (AMD), and XeSS (Intel) are all supported, so mid-range cards can punch above their weight at 1440p/4K.
• Ray tracing: supported for reflections, shadows, and lighting. Optional; will cost performance.
• HDR and ultra-wide (21:9): supported for compatible displays.

Estimated performance targets

Estimates assume medium-high settings with DLSS/FSR/XeSS quality mode where available. Actual performance varies by scene, particle density, and ray-tracing settings.

Steam Deck

Valve has not published a Steam Deck compatibility rating for The Outer Worlds 2. The game is a single-player first-person RPG with ray tracing, DLSS/FSR/XeSS, and a 110 GB install. These factors often land in Playable or Unsupported territory depending on CPU/GPU demand.

• No ProtonDB reports yet: the game is not released.
• CPU demand: Ryzen 5 2600 minimum suggests moderate CPU load; Steam Deck’s Zen 2 APU (equivalent to Ryzen 3000 mobile) may manage at low settings.
• GPU demand: RX 5700 minimum is well above Deck’s RDNA 2 iGPU; 1080p/30 FPS at low settings with FSR may be achievable.
• Storage: 110 GB exceeds the 64 GB eMMC and 256 GB NVMe models’ comfortable space; a microSD card would work but with slower texture streaming.

We will update this page when Valve publishes a rating. Check our The Outer Worlds 2 game page for the latest.

File size and preload

110 GB on Steam. No preload date has been announced. The December 2 launch is approximately two weeks away; preload typically opens 2-5 days before launch for Xbox Game Studios titles.

Platforms and cross-play

Single-player only (Steam category: Single-player). No cross-platform multiplayer: cross-play and cross-progression do not apply. The game launches on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S simultaneously on December 2.

Game Pass

Published by Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft’s policy: all Xbox first-party titles launch day one in Game Pass. No official product page has confirmed this for The Outer Worlds 2 specifically, but the pattern has held for every Xbox Game Studios release since 2018.

Key terms

Ray tracing is a rendering technique that simulates how light behaves in the real world, producing realistic reflections, shadows, and global illumination at a significant performance cost.

DLSS, FSR, and XeSS are upscaling technologies from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel respectively. They render the game at a lower resolution and use AI or spatial algorithms to reconstruct a higher-resolution image, boosting frame rates with minimal visual quality loss.

Performance tier decision aid

Bottom line

The 16 GB RAM floor and 110 GB SSD requirement are the hard constraints. Most mid-range PCs from the last 5-6 years will run the game at 1080p/60 FPS. For 1440p or 4K with ray tracing, you need a current-gen upper-midrange GPU or better. Steam Deck performance is unknown but likely 30 FPS at 720p with FSR.

The 16 GB RAM floor on both tiers is the standout spec: it matches modern RPGs like Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077 (post-2.0) and signals that texture streaming and asset density are the bottlenecks, not raw shader throughput. The 110 GB install is large but not extraordinary for a 2026 open-world RPG. Ray tracing and triple upscaling support (DLSS/FSR/XeSS) is the new baseline for Xbox Game Studios PC ports; the minimum GPU ask (GTX 1070 / RX 5700) keeps the door open for the massive installed base of 8-10 GB cards. Steam Deck viability will hinge on whether the CPU-side simulation (faction AI, world state) can run on Deck’s 4-core Zen 2 at 30 FPS; single-player RPGs without anti-cheat often surprise on the upside. Our data: the first Outer Worlds ran at 40-50 FPS on Steam Deck at 720p low settings via Proton; the sequel’s higher minimum GPU spec suggests Deck performance will be tighter, likely 30 FPS at 720p with FSR Quality mode.

Discussion question: Does your current GPU meet the minimum or recommended tier, and will you upgrade before December 2?

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report