Tales of the Shire’sofficial system requirements have been revealed, and they are surprisingly demanding for a cozy,Animal Crossing-style life simulator. Developed by Weta Workshop,Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Gameis being described as a laid-back, cozy experience set in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.
Tales of the Shirehas undergone multiple delayssince its announcement back in early 2024, but the title now has a confirmed release date of July 29, a couple of weeks from now. A new trailer was released just a month ago, showcasing the idyllic, day-to-day life of a Hobbit. Gameplay-wise,Tales of the Shireappears to be quite similar toAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, with helping the townsfolk of Bywater build up their settlement from a quaint town to a thriving village as the overarching goal. Early impressions indicate the game has no combat to speak of, and focuses exclusively on delivering a casual, relaxed gameplay loop, which involves house decoration, gardening, farming, fishing, foraging, and trading with the locals.PC system requirements forTales of the Shireon Steamwere revealed yesterday, and many were taken aback by how steep they are. The minimum specs demand an Intel Core i5-7600K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 equivalent, whereas the recommended specs require an Intel Core i5-10600 and RTX 3060 Ti equivalents. According to the additional notes on the Steam page, the minimum requirements only promise 1080p at 30 FPS, and even with the recommended hardware, the game is expected to run at 1080p and 60 FPS. Additionally, 16 GB of RAM is a common requirement for both presets.
Intel Core i5-7600K or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Intel Core i5-10600 or AMD Ryzen 5 8400F
16 GB RAM
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770, 4 GB or AMD Radeon R9 270X, 4 GB or Intel Arc A580, 8 GB
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, 8 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, 12 GB
3 GB available space
1080p Very Low @ 30 FPS
1080p High @ 60 FPS
The hardware requirements forTales of the Shirecome as a surprise, especially considering that from the promotional material shown so far, the graphical fidelity and the scope of the title do not appear to justify such a jump. Games with a similar aesthetic and art style, likePalia,Disney Dreamlight Valley,Tiny Glade, and others, do not require anywhere close to what this game is asking for to run comfortably. Even thePC requirements forHell Is UsandLost Soul Aside, two upcoming titles that are clearly more graphically demanding thanTales of the Shire, do not call for a 3060 Ti to run at 1080p 60 FPS. Stranger still, the title is only reported requiring 3 GB of available space, a detail that would typically suggest the game is optimized for low-end PCs.
Excitement surroundingTales of the Shirehas picked up in the lead-up to the game’s release, but high system demands might force many PC players who don’t meet the minimum threshold to forgo getting a copy. Crucially,Tales of the Shirehas not revealed PC hardware requirements for anything above 1080p 60 FPS, so even those who do meet the prerequisites might still hesitate to purchase the title if it is revealed that going up to 1440p or 4k at 144Hz or above is unrealistic.
