Can I Run BioShock 2?
Released in 2010, BioShock 2 is an action game built by 2K Marin. Publishing duties went to 2K. It offers a single player campaign and competitive multiplayer. Completionists have 68 achievements to work through. Windows is the only supported platform, which is what the figures below describe. Steam gates it behind an age check at 17. Full controller support is present, so nothing needs configuring before a pad works. It is old enough that no current GPU generation existed when it shipped, so modern hardware tends to be far past what it can use. Steam lists support for 5 languages. With more than 11 thousand player reviews on Steam, its behaviour on real hardware is well documented. Its Metacritic score stands at 88.
Can your PC run it? →System requirements
Minimum requirements
| CPU | AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ 2.4Ghz or better, Intel Pentium 4 530 3.0Ghz Processor or better |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA 7800GT 256MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon X1900 256MB graphics card or better |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| Storage | 11 GB |
| OS | Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 |
| DirectX | 9 |
Recommended requirements
| CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Dual Core 2.60Ghz, Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Dual Core 2.13Ghz |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA 8800GT 512MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon HD4830 512MB graphics card or better |
| RAM | 3 GB |
Verified from Steam · 9 Jul 2026 source
Scores are deterministic, computed by fixed rules and benchmark tables, not written by an AI. How we score. Maintained by Farhad Ali. Spotted a wrong specification? Tell us.
Setting and environment
BioShock 2 places its action in a horror setting, and the player works through combat arenas. Play is presented from a first person view. 7 storefront images show what the game actually looks like in motion.
Why BioShock 2 is demanding
The install is small at roughly 11 GB. It targets DirectX 9, an older feature level that almost anything still running will satisfy. BioShock 2 needs only 3 GB of RAM.
This reading comes from the published requirements and our own benchmark tables, not from the store listing.
Can you run BioShock 2?
BioShock 2 targets a mainstream modern PC: NVIDIA 7800GT 256MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon X1900 256MB graphics card or better and 2 GB of RAM for the minimum, stepping up to NVIDIA 8800GT 512MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon HD4830 512MB graphics card or better for the recommended experience. No single part dominates the requirements, so a balanced mid-range build clears it.
Bottleneck: CPU
Similar games you can run
See everything your PC can run →
Frequently asked questions
Can my PC run BioShock 2?
Upload your DxDiag file to Idxdiag's free checker and get a component by component compatibility verdict for BioShock 2 in seconds. No install required.
What are the minimum system requirements for BioShock 2?
The minimum requirements are CPU: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ 2.4Ghz or better, Intel Pentium 4 530 3.0Ghz Processor or better; GPU: NVIDIA 7800GT 256MB graphics card or better, ATI Radeon X1900 256MB graphics card or better; 2 GB RAM; OS: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7.
How much storage does BioShock 2 need?
BioShock 2 needs about 11 GB of available storage.
What is the bottleneck for BioShock 2?
On a typical modern PC (Ryzen 5 5600, RTX 3060, 16 GB RAM), the tightest component for BioShock 2 is the CPU.