When Steam System Requirements Go Off the Rails
The Cinder City RAM requirement incident is a case where a game’s Steam system requirements briefly suggested a wildly unrealistic 64GB of memory, exposing how a single listing error can distort expectations for PC gaming specs and spark needless anxiety among players planning their next build.
Cinder City, a third-person RPG shooter, first appeared on Steam with game RAM requirements that stood out for all the wrong reasons: its recommended spec claimed players needed 64GB of system memory, alongside an RTX 4060 and a high-end Ryzen 7 7800X3D. This made it, as one report noted, the first PC game on the platform to recommend 64GB of RAM. When most current consoles ship with 16GB of total memory, that figure looked less like future-proofing and more like a typo with consequences. It suggested a level of hardware overkill that would have forced many PC builders to consider expensive upgrades long before knowing whether they were truly necessary.
The 64GB RAM Requirement Error and Why It Mattered
The original Cinder City listing did more than raise eyebrows; it clashed with the rest of its PC gaming specs. The minimum requirements asked for an Intel Core i5-10400 or Ryzen 5 3600, 32GB of RAM, and an RTX 2060 with 6GB VRAM, running on Windows 10 or 11 with DirectX 12. The recommended specs kept the same OS and DirectX, bumped the CPU to an i7-12700 or Ryzen 7 7800X3D, raised memory to 64GB, and paired it with an RTX 4060. That memory jump felt wildly out of balance with a midrange GPU and a single-player RPG shooter, especially when 32GB already exceeds what many games list as comfortable high-end territory.
The practical problem was simple: players who take Steam system requirements at face value could assume they needed to double their RAM to meet this game’s demands. One report captured the mood bluntly: “asking gamers to install 64GB of RAM right now is certifiably insane,” pointing out the cost pressure that kind of upgrade carries in the current market. Unrealistic RAM numbers risk pushing enthusiasts toward unnecessary hardware investments, especially those planning new rigs around a specific title. A single misprinted figure can turn into a perceived barrier to entry, discouraging otherwise capable systems from even attempting to run the game.
From RAM Requirement Error to Corrected Specs
The good news is that Big Fire Games moved to correct the RAM requirement error once it was identified on the Steam store page. In a public note, the Cinder City team admitted “an error in the memory specification listed under the system requirements,” confirming that the prior 64GB recommendation was a mistake. They replaced it with a new, far more believable figure: both the minimum and recommended game RAM requirements are now set to 32GB. In the process, they also altered the GPU expectations, upgrading the recommended graphics card from an RTX 4060 to an RTX 4070, a shift of two product tiers.
The updated PC gaming specs now look more internally consistent. Minimum remains an i5-10400 or Ryzen 5 3600, 32GB RAM, RTX 2060, Windows 10 or 11, and DirectX 12. Recommended still calls for an i7-12700 or Ryzen 7 7800X3D, but aligns that CPU with 32GB of RAM and an RTX 4070. VRAM information was removed from the listing, with no stated reason for that change. In their statement, the developers stressed that these numbers reflect the current development build and may drop by launch as optimization continues, promising more accurate system requirements closer to release. That caveat is a reminder that pre-release specs are often moving targets rather than final verdicts on what a game will need.
What PC Builders Should Learn from Cinder City
The Cinder City RAM saga is a tidy warning for anyone who plans a PC build around a single game. Steam system requirements are important, but they are still human-authored data, and human-authored data can be wrong. A single mis-typed RAM figure briefly turned Cinder City into a theoretical memory hog that outclassed modern consoles many times over, even as its GPU demands sat in midrange territory. For players, that mismatch is a cue to pause before buying new hardware and wait for clarifications or updated specs when something looks off.
Big Fire Games’ correction, and their admission that current specs are based on a development build that may be further reduced as optimization improves, is the more reassuring side of this story. They explicitly state that “the final system requirements at launch may be lower than those currently listed” and promise another update closer to release. In practice, that means Cinder City’s true hardware needs are still in flux. The lesson is straightforward: treat early game RAM requirements as provisional, cross-check them against the rest of the listed PC gaming specs, and resist reshaping your entire rig around a single, unverified number. If a spec sheet looks absurd, it might be—Cinder City has already proved that once.
