The Players' Guide to the Cities/System Requirements

Today, almost any Windows/Linux/Mac computer can run the game effectively; the main exception is that performance on built-in Intel 3D graphics chips can be poor.

System Requirements

System Requirements for Homecoming: City of Heroes
Requirement	Minimum	Recommended	Ultra Mode
Operating System	32-bit: Windows XP SP2/Vista/7-10 64-bit: Windows 8.1 or 10	Windows 10	Windows 10 in 64-bit Mode Windows 11
Processor	Intel Celeron/Pentium (Pre 2022) Intel Processor (2023-present) or AMD E-Series	Intel Core i-Series (Pre 2023) Intel Core Series (2024-present) or AMD Ryzen	Same as Recommended Spec
Memory	2GB (32-bit Win XP) 4GB (32GB Win Vista+)	4GB (32-Bit) 8GB (64-Bit)	16 GB
HDD	eMMC, PATA, SATA	SATA III	NVMe or better
Graphics	Integrated Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics (2021-2023) AMD Radeon HD Graphics	Integrated Graphics: Intel Xe/Iris Xe AMD Ryzen Vega or Navi Graphics -OR- Discrete Graphics: NVidia or AMD NVidia Cards with a Tens Digit above 5 AMD Cards with a Hundreds Digit above 5 Intel Arc A500 Series	Discrete Graphics: NVidia Cards with a Tens Digit above 6 AMD Cards with a Tens Digit above 6 Intel Arc A700 Series
Hardware Release Date	2012+	2016+	2018+
Internet Connection	Always-on Broadband (DSL with at least 3Mbps symmetrical)
Controls	Keyboard and Mouse

Notes:

1. Ignoring all of the above, 90% of Laptops sold above $300 since 2018 meet these requirements.
2. Linux systems must meet the above requirements; systems that do not meet the minimum requirements may have issues.
3. Apple Mac hardware has the same tech requirements with the following caveat: MacOS Mojave is the last version of Mac to support 32-bit apps, therefore HC Launcher must use 64-bit client from MacOS Catalina forward. (Using 32-bit Mac hardware is no longer advised, since the last security update to OS X Snow Leopard was in 2011.)
4. Optical Drive is removed above, as the Homecoming: City of Heroes installer is not distributed physically.

Historical (pre-2012) requirements

This article or section contains information that no longer applies to the current version of Homecoming: City of Heroes/Villains. It is provided for historical purposes.

As with most actively developed software, the system requirements for City have gradually increased over time. Below is a copy of the specs recommended on the NCsoft website.

Note that an optical drive is not actually required. The Game Client can be installed entirely via download as well.

Specifications

Windows

Requirement	Minimum	Recommended	Ultra Mode
Operating System	Windows® XP/Vista/7	Windows® XP/Vista/7	Windows® XP/Vista/7
Processor	Intel Pentium® III 1 GHz or AMD Athlon 1 GHz	Intel® or AMD Dual Core processor	Intel® or AMD Dual Core processor or higher
Memory	512 MB RAM	2 GB RAM	4 GB RAM
Optical Drive	CD-ROM Drive (if original) DVD-ROM Drive	DVD-ROM drive	DVD-ROM drive
HDD	4 GB available hard disk space	6 GB available HDD space	6 GB Available HDD Space
Graphics	NVIDIA® GeForce 2 Series, ATI™ Radeon® 8500 Series, or Intel i810G and above Video Card	NVIDIA® GeForce FX 5600 Series (or higher), ATI™ Radeon® 9600 (or higher)	NVIDIA® GeForce 8 Series (or higher), ATI™ Radeon® HD 2000 Series (or higher)
Internet Connection	Broadband	Broadband	Broadband
Input Devices	Keyboard and mouse	Keyboard and mouse	Keyboard and mouse

• For ATI based video cards, the Catalyst 10.8 drivers and higher are recommended to correct FSAA and Ambient Occlusion issues.

Macintosh

Requirement	Minimum	Recommended	Ultra Mode
Operating System	Mac OS X 10.5.5 Leopard	Mac OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard or higher	Mac® OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard or higher
Processor	Intel Core Duo Processor	Intel Core Duo 2 Processor	Intel Core Duo 2 Processor
Memory	1 GB RAM or more	1 GB RAM or more	3 GB RAM or more
HDD	5 GB available HDD space	5 GB available HDD space	6 GB available HDD space
Graphics	ATI™ Radeon® X1600 or NVIDIA® GeForce 7300 GT with 128MB of Video RAM, or X3100 Intel integrated graphics chip	NVIDIA 7300 GT (or higher), ATI X1600 or higher, X3100 (or higher) Intel integrated graphics chip (Intel GMA950 not supported)	NVIDIA GeForce™ 8800 Series (or higher) or ATI® Radeon® 3870 (or higher)
Internet Connection	Broadband	Broadband	Broadband
Input Devices	Keyboard and mouse	Keyboard and mouse	Keyboard and mouse

• City of Heroes is compiled to work on Intel/AMD Processors. However, it has been tested and works on Apple Silicon running Rosetta 2. (At the time of this writing, M1 through M3 processors and all Pro, Max and Ultra variants.)

See Also

• City of Heroes Specs at NCsoft.com