Skate PC Requirements Revealed: Upscaling Keeps Specs Surprisingly Low

The Skate system requirements have finally arrived, perhaps a bit later than expected. However, their release brings up a few significant discussion points that might concern players, especially since the game is currently in early access. Most notably, the game lacks compatibility for Linux and Mac operating systems, and a considerable portion of the specifications relies on aggressive upscaling technologies.

If you’re dreaming of cruising through San Van’s stunning environments at their peak visual quality, you might not necessarily need the absolute best graphics card available. However, because upscaling technologies are significantly factored into the recommended and ultra specifications for Skate, it’s challenging to pinpoint the exact hardware required to run the game flawlessly without relying on FSR or XeSS.

Here are the Skate system requirements for PC:

The Skate minimum requirements pose little threat to most modern gaming PCs, featuring an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 460 GPU, paired with an Intel Core i5 6600K or AMD Ryzen 3 3100 CPU. You’ll also need a modest 8GB of RAM.

Moving on to the Skate recommended specs, these present a more significant jump, listing an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT alongside an Intel Core i7 9700 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, plus 16GB of RAM. Despite the increase, these specifications remain quite achievable for many gaming PCs and laptops from the past four years.

As for the Skate ultra requirements, these demand an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, coupled with an Intel Core i7 11700 or AMD Ryzen 5900. Additionally, you’ll need to double your RAM to a hefty 32GB.

What’s most notable about both the ultra and recommended requirements is the explicit mention of upscaling to define these specifications. A note directly from developer Full Circle at the bottom of the table states that “Avg. performance estimates of recommended & ultra presets include use of optional upscaling at balanced settings.”

Since Nvidia DLSS support isn’t part of the early access launch, it’s likely that either AMD FSR or Intel XeSS has been utilized. Without a specific version number, it’s hard to know precisely what image quality to expect once upscaling is applied.

It’s been argued that upscaling shouldn’t be a core part of system requirements. However, for Skate, at least the level of upscaling applied is clear, which is more transparent than in some past game releases where such specifics were omitted.

Neither Linux nor macOS is currently supported for Skate, which could significantly impact its playability on devices like the Steam Deck. As EA publishes the game, this limitation is likely due to their anti-cheat technology, which is mentioned on the game’s official page and is known to conflict with SteamOS.

The game’s download size is a modest 25GB, and an SSD isn’t strictly required at launch. Nevertheless, considering a top-rated gaming SSD could offer a substantial performance boost for your system without breaking your budget.

If you’re eager to dive into San Van and start shredding, remember you’ll need a PC controller, as the game does not support mouse and keyboard inputs. For those joining the early access, feel free to share your most epic tricks and intricate lines with fellow players.