Facepalm: If you've been playing Halo Infinite but suddenly found it no longer works after the latest update, here's some bad news: you probably need a new graphics card. The FPS has asked for 4GB of VRAM since launch, but some players found they were still able to play it using graphics cards that didn't meet that requirement - until now.
Halo Infinite's requirement that a graphics card has 4GB of VRAM is shown on both its Microsoft store page and the official game website. On Steam, there's no mention of the amount of VRAM needed but the minimum requirements are listed as an AMD RX 570 or Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti, both of which have 4GB of memory.
However, some people had been playing 343 Industries' title using cards that are more powerful than the GTX 1050 Ti but have less VRAM, such as the 3GB version of the GTX 1060, which users say ran the game quite well on lower settings.
The Season 3: Echoes Within update that arrived earlier this month is Halo Infinite's biggest multiplayer update yet, bringing with it new maps, modes, and weapons, along with support for ray tracing. As DSO Gaming reports, it also stops the game from working with cards featuring 3GB of VRAM, despite there being nothing in the patch notes about this new restriction - though 4GB of video memory was already a minimum requirement, so 343 Industries probably didn't feel the need to mention it.
Following the update, anyone trying to load the game with an incompatible card will find it doesn't start and encounter the following message.
Source: Reddit via VideoCardz
It's been almost five years since Nvidia launched the GTX 1050 3GB, and the GTX 1060 3GB is even older, yet both remain popular among participants of Valve's Steam survey. If you do have either of these cards, though, you should probably think about upgrading, especially if you're a Halo Infinite fan.
If you are looking for an excellent value GPU, check out our Cost Per Frame: Best Value Graphics Cards in Early 2023 feature.