Skip to main content

Ratchet & Clank to debut a revolutionary graphics tech on PC

It’s been a tough time for PC gamers in 2023, but Sony’s next major PC port could finally solve some problems. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, originally released for the PlayStation 5 over two years ago, is finally arriving on PC. It supports all of the latest PC bells and whistles, but also something completely new: DirectStorage 1.2.

That may not seem like a big deal — after all, Forspoken arrived with DirectStorage and still had performance issues, while promises of a patch in Diablo IV have yet to manifest. However, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the first game to take advantage of the GPU decompression portion of DirectStorage.

Ratchet from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This dedicated hardware decompression can help alleviate traversal stutter (or loading stutter), which has been present throughout a number of games in 2023. The list includes Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Dead Space, but it doesn’t look like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will struggle with those same issues.

Recommended Videos

That’s great news, especially considering Sony’s last PC port was such a disaster. The Last of Us Part 1 released in a dire state on PC, and although it has gotten better after a series of patches, it still isn’t a great performer. That’s unlike most of Sony’s other PC releases, which, short of a few notable exceptions like Horizon Zero Dawn, have been stable at launch.

In addition to GPU decompression, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart supports a slew of next-gen features. It comes with the full suite of upscaling options, including Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling 3 (DLSS), AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (FSR), and Intel’s XeSS, along with the developers’ own Temporal Injection image reconstruction feature.

In addition, the game supports Nvidia DLAA and Reflex, along with ray tracing for reflections and exterior shadows. It’s a long list of features, and it looks like you’ll need a beefy PC to unlock them all.

At minimum, the game calls for an Nvidia GTX 960 and Intel Core i3-8100, which the developer says is to maintain 30 frames per second (fps) at 720p with the Very Low quality preset. To max the game out, you’ll need at least an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti or AMD RX 6800, and if you want full ray tracing, you need an RTX 4080 or an RX 7900 XTX.

PC requirements for Ratch and Clank Rift Apart.
PlayStation Studios

The port is being handled by Nixxes, which was also responsible for bringing Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales to PC. Those games both have some issues when it comes to CPU bottlenecks, but they’re otherwise stable, feature-rich ports. Hopefully Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will join their ranks.

Jacob Roach
Former Lead Reporter, PC Hardware
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
A coding blunder just ruined a moment of joy for lottery winners
Eurojackpot lottery slips.

Imagine the joy of being notified of a huge lottery win. What would be the first thing you’d do? Get the champagne in? Book a fancy vacation? Call your boss and tell him where to go?

And then imagine being informed that the notification had, in fact, been sent in error. Well, you can always send the booze back and cancel the holiday, but trying to convince your boss that you were just joking ... well, that may be a bigger challenge.

Read more
This TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 router is 45% off in early Prime Day deal
The TP-Link AX1800 Archer AX21 Wi-FI 6 Router on a white background.

If you're planning to buy a new router to improve your home's Wi-Fi network, the good news is that you don't have to wait for Prime Day 2025 to take advantage of huge discounts on router deals from Amazon. Here's an excellent offer — the TP-Link Archer AX21 with an eye-catching 45% discount, which drops its price from $100 to just $55. The $45 in savings will only be available for a limited time though, so you better act fast and proceed with your purchase immediately as this early Prime Day deal may disappear at any moment.

Buy Now

Read more
Watch these AI humanoid robots play soccer like Mbappé … sort of
Humanoid robots playing soccer.

Watching these humanoid robots battle it out on the soccer field, you quickly realize that Kylian Mbappé and his fellow professionals really have little to worry about. At least, for now.

The footage (top) was captured last week in Beijing at the RoBoLeague World Robot Soccer League, China's first-ever three-on-three humanoid robot soccer league.

Read more