Indiana Jones and the Great Circle requires a ray tracing GPU, path tracing requires frame gen to hit 60fps

In context: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set to be one of the most demanding PC games of 2024. It stands out as one of the few titles that requires a GPU capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing, with path tracing specifications that surpass previous titles utilizing this cutting-edge technology.

The PC system requirements for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle indicate that the game necessitates hardware-accelerated ray tracing across all visual presets. This decision effectively renders the game unplayable on GPUs older than Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2000 series and AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series.

Machine Games’ action-adventure title, inspired by the iconic Indiana Jones franchise, joins a select group of games with demanding PC specifications due to extensive use of ray tracing technology. While games like Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition and Star Wars Outlaws have implemented ray tracing, Alan Wake II faced backlash for locking off GPUs with its RT, path tracing, and mesh shader requirements. Ubisoft claims Star Wars Outlaws is playable on GPUs like the RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660, despite its RT inclusion.

Indiana Jones surpasses the requirements of these games and even Cyberpunk 2077’s path-tracing mode. The minimum required GPUs for 60fps gameplay at native 1080p on low settings with path tracing disabled are listed as RTX 2060, RX 6600, and Intel Arc A580. However, the game still utilizes ray tracing at its lowest settings, posing a challenge even for the RTX 2060.

The game’s system memory specifications are also noteworthy, as it demands 32GB of RAM for 1440p gameplay in addition to 4K native gameplay, a departure from previous high-end titles.

Furthermore, the demands for path tracing, a more intricate and resource-intensive form of ray tracing, are detailed on the game’s specification sheet. The path-tracing presets assume players will utilize upscaling and frame generation to achieve 60 frames per second, with AMD GPUs no longer meeting requirements at this stage.

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For instance, to achieve 60fps at 1080p using DLSS3 quality mode on low settings with path tracing, Machine Games recommends an RTX 4070, suggesting a 720p 30fps performance with AI assistance.

In contrast, the ultra path tracing column on the spec sheet highlights the necessity of an RTX 4090 to achieve 4K 60fps, upscaled from 1080p, showcasing the game’s demanding requirements.

An SSD with 120GB of free space is also a prerequisite. Interestingly, the specifications for playing the game with upscaling enabled and path tracing disabled are omitted, leaving room for potentially less demanding gameplay.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set to launch on Xbox Series consoles, Game Pass, and Steam on December 9, with early access available on December 6 through pre-ordering the premium edition. Nvidia is also offering the game as a bundle with most RTX 4000 series GPUs, while a PlayStation 5 release is planned for next spring.