LEGO Batman's PC requirements say you'll need Frame Generation to hit 30 FPS

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which is out later this month, is a new open-world action-adventure that looks like it's set to deliver an Arkham City-like experience with that LEGO charm. And with the release right around the corner, developer TT Games and publisher Warner Bros. have published the PC specs and hardware requirements for the game. Which, understandably, has now come under fire for listing Frame Generation as a requirement to hit performance targets.

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From a hardware perspective alone, the specifications point to a well-optimized experience, with the Minimum GPU requirements being a GeForce GTX 960 4GB or a Radeon RX 6400 4GB. However, this is to play the game with Low settings at 1080p with AMD FSR or Intel XeSS 'Balanced' upscaling and Frame Generation enabled. What makes these specs hard to comprehend is that this will only deliver 30 FPS, which runs counter to how and when Frame Generation technologies should be used.

Frame Generation, whether it's DLSS, FSR, or XeSS, is a motion-smoothing technology, not a performance boost, as it doesn't magically fix latency. And with that in mind, it's a technology that works best when the input frame rate is in the 60 FPS range, ensuring the game still feels responsive and that the generated frames have enough data to minimize issues like artifacts. This means that 1080p 30FPS performance with Frame Generation would feel like you're playing at 15 FPS, with a notable impact on image quality.

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The full PC specs for LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight are a mess, as even when you get to the Recommended GPU requirements, which ask for a GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER or Radeon RX 6650 XT, it's a similar situation. This is to play the game with Medium settings at 1440p "60 FPS." Again, this requires DLSS, FSR, or XeSS upscaling using the 'Quality' setting with Frame Generation enabled. Although this would deliver a more playable experience, having 60 FPS as the end result of Frame Generation is still not recommended, as you need a baseline of around 60 FPS to maintain responsive controls and decent image quality.

Moving up to the 4K 60 FPS requirements, which recommend either a GeForce RTX 4070 or Radeon RX 9070 XT, this too lists Frame Generation as being enabled to hit this target. Now, this isn't to say that the game wouldn't be playable on a GPU like the GeForce RTX 3060 or GeForce RTX 5070 without Frame Generation, but it implies that whoever put together this list doesn't quite understand how and when Frame Generation should be used.