Cinder City, the upcoming online co-op shooter from South Korean publisher NC, is already making waves—though perhaps not for the reasons the team initially hoped. Following the game's reveal earlier this week, the title quickly found itself at the center of a hardware controversy due to its unusually high system requirements posted on Steam.

When the specs first went live, they demanded 32GB of RAM as a minimum, with a staggering 64GB suggested for the recommended tier. Given that a 64GB DDR5 RAM kit currently retails for approximately £674 ($900), the community reaction was immediate. In an era where consumers are already feeling the impact of rising costs across electronic devices, such a requirement—a first for a modern PC game—was met with widespread confusion.

The publisher has since issued a formal apology on the game's Steam page, confirming the high memory figure was a mistake. “We apologise for any confusion this may have caused. The information has now been updated to the correct specification,” the developer stated. The updated page now lists 32GB of RAM for both minimum and recommended hardware.

Optimization and Shifting Specs

While the RAM requirement has been brought back down to a more manageable level, the situation highlights the volatile nature of pre-launch hardware targets. The developer noted that the current requirements are based on a development build and may change further as the team continues to optimize the game. “As optimisation continues, the final system requirements at launch may be lower than those currently listed,” the statement added.

However, players were quick to notice that the adjustment wasn't entirely a downward trend. Alongside the RAM correction, the recommended GPU requirement was quietly updated, moving from an RTX 4060 to the more powerful—and significantly more expensive—RTX 4070.

This isn't the first time developers have walked back high spec requirements following player feedback. TT Games famously adjusted the recommended RAM for LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight from 32GB down to 16GB prior to its release. As the industry grapples with ongoing memory and storage supply challenges, it is increasingly likely that studios will face more pressure to optimize their titles for the 16GB RAM configurations that remain standard for many PC players today.

Cinder City does not yet have a confirmed release date, but it is slated to arrive on PC and PlayStation 5.