Spider-Man 2 Launches on Steam with Lenient PC Requirements

Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has officially made its way to PC today, January 30, marking a significant moment for fans eagerly awaiting the game's port. Developer Nixxes Software has put considerable effort into ensuring the game performs well across various PC hardware configurations, as detailed on the PlayStation Blog. This release not only brings the game to a new platform but also introduces a host of PC-specific enhancements to elevate the gaming experience.

One of the standout features of the PC version is the removal of the mandatory PSN account requirement, offering more flexibility to PC gamers. Additionally, Spider-Man 2 on PC boasts advanced raytracing capabilities, including DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, which significantly improves the quality of ray-traced reflections, shadows, and ambient occlusion. Menno Bil, a graphics programmer at Nixxes, highlighted the benefits of ray reconstruction, noting, "In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC with ray reconstruction enabled, we see more detailed ray-traced reflections and better-defined ray-traced shadows, especially when viewing raytracing effects at steep angles. We also see improvements in the ray-traced interiors and less ghosting and noise in the ray-traced ambient occlusion."

The game also supports a range of upscaling and frame generation technologies, including DLSS 3 and FSR 3.1, alongside Intel's XeSS upscaler. While DLSS 4's Multi Frame Generation is not included by default, users can leverage the Nvidia app to enhance the image quality of DLSS 3's Frame Generation. For those with wider screens, the game offers ultrawide support up to a 48:9 aspect ratio, ensuring all cinematics are viewable up to 32:9.

The system requirements for Spider-Man 2 on PC are thoughtfully segmented into ray-traced and non-ray-traced configurations. If you're not concerned about advanced reflections, you can run the game at 720p and 30 FPS on an older system equipped with an Nvidia GTX 1650, an Intel Core i3 8100, and 16 GB of RAM. For those with high-end setups, achieving 4K at 60 FPS with "Ray Tracing Ultimate" settings demands an RTX 4090, an AMD Ryzen 7800X3D, and 32 GB of RAM.

The question of whether Spider-Man 2 can run on a Steam Deck remains open due to its high RAM requirements and the need for a modern graphics card. While previous titles like Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales had PS4 ports that were more scalable, Spider-Man 2, being a PS5 exclusive until now, might stretch the Steam Deck's capabilities too far for official verification.

The community has responded positively to the detailed hardware requirements. A user on Reddit commented, "This must be the best hardware requirements sheet I’ve seen so far." Another user, ItsMeIcebear4, added, "Honestly, great job. If performance lives up to this, it'll be very well received." These reactions underscore the anticipation and optimism surrounding the PC release of Marvel's Spider-Man 2.