It feels like we've been saying it forever now, but the virtual reality revolution is finally set to arrive in a matter of months. Two big competitors, in the shape of the HTC Vive and the Oculus Touch, are striding into the arena with opposing hardware and plenty of chat about room-space VR, high refresh rates, and total immersion. None of that matters at all without the games to back it up though, and one that's been attracting plenty of attention is Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives. 

Coming to all three major VR players (including PSVR) as a launch title with motion controls, Job Simulator is set in a world where all human jobs have been eliminated by robots. In 2050 people get to go to museums and experience what it was like to work, or at least, their perception of what work was. Cue potential for huge carnage during the simple act of making a cheese sandwich, or sitting in your office cubicle. Job Simulator is a day one title for early adopters of virtual reality hardware, so let's see what you'll need with the official system requirements. 

Job Simulator Minimum System Requirements

  • OS: Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1 Or Newer
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3 GHz or AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
  • RAM: 4 GB System Memory
  • GPU RAM: 4GB Video Memory or greater
  • GPU: GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon R9 290
  • Display: VR Headset - Oculus Rift or HTC Vive

True to their word, the system requirements for Job Simulator are bang on what we had been told would be the recommended system requirements for the HTC Vive, and slightly exceeding what is necessary for the Rift. 

Visually Job Simulator is very simplistic, it's evidently designed as a VR launch game which can work across a wide spread of systems as an entry point. There's nothing here in the simple modelling and low-resolution textures to cause most mid to high-end rigs a problems. That said there is a bunch of physics-based collisions going on involving potentially dozens of objects, so there is certainly potential to knock the frame rate.

Without getting our hands on the hardware and giving it a go we can't say for sure, but it's very unlikely the GTX 970 and Radeon R9 290 are going to have any problems here. So if you've got a rig capable of hitting the recommended VR specs for either the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift then you're going to have no problems here. 

From the looks of things Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives is going to be VR only, so you're out of luck if you just want to play it without at headset. Likewise you will also require motion controls. These come bundled in with the HTC Vive at launch; Oculus Touch is coming in the second half of 2016, and we're not sure how Sony intends to sell its PlayStation Move controllers. Job Simulator is fundamentally about interacting with the environment with your hands, so without this tactile feedback it's pretty much a no-go.

In theory this should be the exact same set of system requirements we'll get for all VR games for the next year or so, but don't be surprised to see that claim blown out of the water in the coming months. It's a nice idea but PC gaming doesn't tend to suit the one size fits all mentality. 

What do you make of the Job Simulator minimum system requirements then? Are you ready to step foot into a virtual reality? Let us know!