System requirements, and what they really mean
Minimum is Windows 10, a 2.6 GHz CPU, 1000 MB RAM, a 1 GB Shader Model 2.0+ card and 5 GB of storage; recommended is a dual-core 3.0 GHz and 8 GB RAM.
Steam publishes both a minimum and a recommended spec for COP BASTARD, and the minimum is genuinely low: Windows 10, a 2.6 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and a 1 GB video card with Shader Model 2.0. The install is 5 GB.
Official minimum
| Component | Minimum |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Processor | 2.6 GHz |
| Memory | 1000 MB RAM |
| Graphics | 1 GB video memory, Shader Model 2.0+ |
| Storage | 5 GB available space |
Official recommended
| Component | Recommended |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 / 11 |
| Processor | Dual core 3.0 GHz |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | 2 GB video memory, Shader Model 2.0+ |
| Network | Broadband internet connection |
| Storage | 5 GB available space |
Reading the specs honestly
The 1 GB RAM minimum is the headline. A corridor shooter with VHS post-processing does not need much, and the store page says so. If your machine runs any 3D game from the last decade, it will run this.
The recommended spec is mostly about the network line. Broadband appears in the recommended column but not the minimum, which is unusual for a single-player game; treat it as Steam's boilerplate rather than a requirement for the campaign.
Storage is the real cost. Five gigabytes for a game this short is generous — the VHS filter and the pre-rendered look eat space. If you are tight on an SSD, this is the number that matters.
If you are not sure
Three cheap tests, in order:
- Run the demo. It is a separate Steam app, so it installs alongside nothing and tells you more than any benchmark.
- Check your GPU's Shader Model support. Anything from the last fifteen years passes Shader Model 2.0; the store page is aiming at old laptops, not new ones.
- Compare your CPU clock to 2.6 GHz. If it is a modern low-power chip with a lower clock but more cores, you are still fine — clock speed is a crude proxy here.
A note on the VHS look
The post-processing is part of the art direction, and the demo patch notes mention an option to turn post-processing effects off while recommending you keep them. If you are playing on a weak machine and the frame rate suffers, that is the first setting to try — not the resolution.
Checked 2026-10-31 against the Steam store system requirements for app 1742440.
