Thanks to technology and the internet, sports fans have access to so much more content than ever before. For example, instead of having to travel to a physical betting shop, they’re able to test their knowledge and prediction skills by using betting sites and apps to make wagers instead. Not only that, but many of these sites also offer free promotions and similar deals to punters, providing even more value.
Video games are another popular type of sports-related content. Instead of allowing players to watch the action from the sidelines, they get to sit right at the heart of it and take control. For the developers and publishers of these games, they are some of the most successful and lucrative titles on the market, thanks to the often annual releases and ongoing microtransactions.
But do these games require the same high-end hardware that other AAA games do?
FIFA 23 vs Elden Ring
FIFA 23 is one of the best-selling sports games of 2022, while Elden Ring was one of the year’s most significant AAA releases from another genre. The latter hit shelves back in February while the former didn’t go on sale until September.
Yet, EA’s football game can be run on much lower-spec hardware than Elden Ring. Looking at the minimum requirements, FIFA can handle an Intel Core i5 6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600, but Elden Ring won’t even start without a Core i5 8400 or Ryzen 3 3300X.
The same is true for its graphics processing requirements. As a minimum, Elden Ring players must have a GeForce GTX 1060, while FIFA can handle the slightly slower GTX 1050.
The GPU requirements are not overly excessive for either title. The GTX 10XX range was released in 2016, so they’re not expensive to buy today. However, there is a much bigger difference in the CPU and memory requirements.
Non-AAA Games
So, we’ve established that AAA sports games are not the most resource-intensive, but hardware specification isn’t something you’ll need to think about at all if you’re playing non-AAA titles, especially if you do so on a mobile device.
For example, Football Manager, which is available on almost every platform, will work fine on any Apple mobile device that runs iOS 11 or more. This makes the iPhone 5s, iPad mini 2, and the sixth generation iPod Touch compatible, all of which are around 10 years old.
So, in general, no, you don’t need high-end hardware to play sports games, so there’s no need to break the bank to enjoy them.