By Walter Jobs, Technology writer and editor · Published 9 October 2026
Short answer: the game’s own Steam store page, scrolled to the bottom. That is the version the publisher maintains, it is updated when the game is patched, and it is the source every other site copies from. Everywhere else is either a stale copy or a guess, and the difference matters when a game has been patched twice since the article you are reading was written.
This page is about finding what a game asks for. If you need the other half, which is what is actually inside your machine, how to find your PC specs covers that in a minute.
Where to look, ranked by how current it stays
| Source | Kept current? | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Steam store page | Yes, the publisher edits it directly | Always first, even for games you will buy elsewhere |
| Epic, GOG, Microsoft Store | Usually, sometimes lagging | The game is not on Steam |
| The publisher’s own site | Often the most detailed, with resolution tiers | A big release, where they publish a proper chart |
| Third party requirement sites | Frequently stale, rarely dated | Almost never, unless the game is delisted |
| A review or a video | Measured, which beats stated | You want real numbers rather than a tier |
One habit worth forming. Check whether the requirements carry a date or a version note. Publishers of live service games revise them after major updates, and a game two years into its life can ask for materially more than it did at launch. If the page is undated, assume it describes the launch build.
Finding them on Steam, including for games you do not own
Open the store page and scroll past the screenshots, the description and the reviews. The requirements sit near the bottom, usually in two columns headed Minimum and Recommended, sometimes behind tabs for Windows, macOS and Linux. You do not need an account and you do not need to own the game.
Two things people miss there. The SteamOS or Linux tab shows different and often lower requirements, which is useful context for handheld play. And on games with a demo, the demo has its own store page with its own requirements block, which occasionally differs from the full game.
The four fields that actually decide it
Having found the table, most of it is noise. These four are where the answer lives.
Graphics card, and the memory figure attached to it
The single most important line. Read both halves: the model name and the video memory in brackets after it. A requirement reading “GTX 1060 6GB” is asking for two separate things, and a card with the right name but less memory fails the second one. Memory shortfalls produce stutter rather than a lower frame rate, which makes them easy to misdiagnose later.
System memory, which is the most understated field
A stated figure describes the game with very little else running. Your machine is also running the operating system, a browser, a launcher and whatever sits in the system tray. If a game asks for 16 GB, treat 16 GB as tight rather than comfortable.
Storage, and whether it says solid state
Capacity is easy to check and rarely the problem. The sentence to look for is whether the requirement specifies an SSD. A growing number of games now stream assets continuously and behave badly on a mechanical drive, and when a publisher bothers to specify solid state they mean it.
Processor, read as a tier rather than a model
The least useful field, because publishers name chips from several years ago and rarely update them. Read it as a rough generation and core count rather than hunting for your exact model. If the requirement names a six core chip from four years ago and you have a current six core chip, you are fine regardless of the model numbers not matching.
Reading the alternatives correctly
Requirements almost always list options separated by “or” and slashes: “GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 580 8GB or Arc A380”. The publisher is saying these are roughly interchangeable for this game. Two things follow.
You only need to clear one of them, not all three. And the parts listed are rarely equal in practice, so the bar is effectively set by whichever is weakest. If you are close to the line, being above the weakest named option is what matters.
From a table to an actual answer
A requirements table tells you which tier you fall into. It does not tell you the frame rate, which is what you actually wanted to know, because it never states the resolution it assumes.
Our Can I Run It checker puts the publisher’s figures and your own two parts side by side and gives you an estimated frame rate at the resolution you chose, with the published table reproduced underneath so you can check our reading against theirs. For what the two tiers are really promising, minimum vs recommended requirements explained covers the conventions nobody prints.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see a game’s requirements without buying it?
Yes, on every major storefront. Requirements sit on the public store page and need no account and no purchase. Scroll past the reviews on Steam and they are near the bottom of the page.
Are Steam requirements accurate?
They are the publisher’s own figures, which makes them authoritative about intent rather than about measured performance. They are the most current version available, because the publisher edits that page directly, but they still describe tiers with no stated resolution or frame rate behind them.
Why do requirements differ between Steam and other sites?
Because most other sites copied the table once and never revisited it. Publishers revise requirements after major patches, so a third party listing can describe a build from two years ago. Treat the storefront page as the source and everything else as a snapshot of unknown age.
What if my parts are not listed in the requirements?
That is normal, since requirements name a handful of reference parts rather than a catalogue. Work out whether your card sits above or below the one named rather than looking for an exact match. A checker that maps both onto one performance scale does this for you.
Do requirements cover multiplayer and single player separately?
Almost never, and they probably should. Multiplayer modes carry more simulation and more network work, so a game can meet its stated spec comfortably in a campaign and struggle in a full lobby. If you mainly play multiplayer, treat the recommended tier as your minimum.
Storefront layouts change and the locations described here reflect how they are arranged now. Requirement figures belong to each publisher. Any frame rate estimate referenced is ours, described on how we calculate this.