As we continue to develop and expand X4: Foundations, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the game's proprietary engine and overall performance. To keep pushing the boundaries of what our engine can do, we are preparing to upgrade our graphics API to Vulkan 1.4 as part of a future update. Our plan is to do this as part of the next major update after 9.00.
Because of this necessary technological step forward, we will soon be updating the minimum GPU requirements for X4: Foundations.
Why are we making this change?
Transitioning to Vulkan 1.4 is a significant technical milestone for us. As a small team, splitting our resources between legacy hardware support and modern development has become a significant drain; continuing to support older hardware requires us to maintain more code, and limits the graphical features we can make use of. By streamlining our engine around this newer standard, we can work more efficiently and continue to deliver technical improvements to the game. In other words, moving exclusively to Vulkan 1.4 allows us to focus 100% on the future of X4!
The New Minimum GPU Requirements
When this planned update goes live, the new minimum graphics card requirements to run the latest version of X4: Foundations will be:
NVIDIA GTX 1060 or AMD RX 5300 or equivalent (Vulkan 1.4 Support required)
Based on recent Steam Hardware Survey data, we are confident that this change will only affect a small fraction of our active players.
What if my PC doesn't meet the new requirements?
First and most importantly: if you are currently playing on older hardware, you will not lose access to the game. We know that some of you have been exploring the X universe on older hardware, and we want to ensure that you can keep playing. We will continue to provide access to legacy versions of X4 via Steam's "Game Versions & Betas" branch system, as we have already been doing for some time.
How to access a legacy version:
- Right-click X4: Foundations in your Steam Library.
- Select Properties, then navigate to the Game Versions & Betas tab.
- Select the designated legacy build from the dropdown menu.
- Steam will download the selected version, and you can play as normal.
Once done, Steam will display your currently selected version of the game next to the play button, as well as next to the X4: Foundations title in your games list on the left hand side of the Steam client.
We hope this early notice gives you plenty of time to prepare. We are incredibly grateful for your continued support of X4: Foundations over the years, and we can't wait to show you what this new technical foundation will allow us to do in the future.