Back when the pre-launch PC system requirements for Black Myth: Wukong surfaced online, I remember thinking that the 4K target looked unusually heavy for a single-player action RPG. Now, in 2026, with the game long since released, I still look at that leaked sheet as a useful snapshot of how demanding the title was expected to be. The headline number was hard to miss: 4K resolution called for 32 GB of RAM, whether ray tracing was on or off. Was that overkill, or a sign of where PC gaming was heading? At the time, I felt it was both.

According to the leaked requirements, the baseline 1080p low setting without ray tracing needed a Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 1600 CPU and a GeForce GTX 1060 or RX 580 GPU. For 4K without ray tracing, the sheet listed a Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 5 5500 CPU, an RTX 4070 or RX 7800 XT GPU, and 32 GB of RAM. That is a big jump, and I can see why players asked whether the RAM figure was truly necessary or simply a safe recommendation. As a player, I would call it aggressive for its time, but not absurd by 2026 standards.

Ray tracing changed the picture. With RT on, Game Science recommended a Core i5-9400 or Ryzen 5 1600 and an RTX 3060 for 1080p low; a Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 5 5500 and an RTX 4060 for 1080p high; and a Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 5 5500 with an RTX 4080 Super for 4K. The odd detail, to me, was that the sheet listed no AMD GPU option for ray tracing. I would not read that as a blanket statement about AMD hardware; I read it as a limited, Nvidia-focused RT recommendation from a pre-release leak.

📊 Here is how the leaked targets broke down:

Target	CPU	GPU	RAM
1080p Low, no RT	Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 1600	GTX 1060 or RX 580	Not specified
4K, no RT	Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 5 5500	RTX 4070 or RX 7800 XT	32 GB
1080p Low, RT on	Core i5-9400 or Ryzen 5 1600	RTX 3060	Not specified
1080p High, RT on	Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 5 5500	RTX 4060	Not specified
4K, RT on	Core i7-9700 or Ryzen 5 5500	RTX 4080 Super	32 GB

Black Myth: Wukong was never just a tech demo. Rooted in Chinese mythology, it offered a distinctive take on Journey to the West, casting players as the Destined One and sending them to uncover the obscured truth beneath a glorious legend from the past. The Soulslike combat, boss encounters, and mythic atmosphere made it one of the most interesting action RPGs of its release window. It launched on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S on August 20, 2024. In 2026, that date matters: the game is no longer a rumor or a leak, and the requirements are history, but they still tell us something about the era.

So does 32 GB of RAM for 4K still feel reasonable? For a high-end player in 2026, I think it does. Modern 4K gaming with ray tracing, high-resolution textures, and heavy background streaming can push memory use well beyond what was common a few years ago. At the same time, I would not tell every 1080p player to rush out and buy 32 GB just because a leaked sheet said so. The more useful lesson is that Black Myth: Wukong arrived at a moment when 4K PC gaming was becoming more demanding, and its recommended specs reflected that shift.

I still find the leak fascinating because it captured the tension between ambition and accessibility. Could a studio rooted in Chinese mythology deliver a Soulslike epic that looked stunning at 4K while still running on a GTX 1060 at 1080p low? The requirements suggested yes, but with clear tiers. In 2026, I see the sheet less as breaking news and more as a benchmark for how a major action RPG balanced scale, ray tracing, and memory needs. 🎮