Before you install: a desktop readiness checklist

A pre-installation checklist for free-to-play desktop games, written for Australian households · Last reviewed 16 September 2026

Most failed installs of a large online game fail for one of four reasons: the wrong operating system, not enough free disk space, graphics hardware that was never going to manage it, or a connection that cannot finish the download. All four are knowable in advance, in about ten minutes, without installing anything.

Quick answer

Confirm the operating system on the vendor's own requirements page. Get free disk space to roughly twice the published install size. Find out whether your graphics are discrete or integrated, and accept lower settings if they are integrated. Check what your internet plan does after a large download. Then install.

What "desktop only" actually excludes

A game distributed as a desktop client is a program that runs on Windows, macOS or Linux. It is not a website, it is not an app, and there is no version of it that will run on a phone or a tablet, however a piece of advertising is laid out. The title covered on this site is a desktop-only release, and that is worth stating early, because a reader who plans to play on an iPad is not one check away from playing — they are looking at the wrong product.

"Desktop" also does not mean "any desktop". Support for Windows, macOS and Linux is declared separately by each vendor, and a game that runs natively on Windows may run on macOS only through a compatibility layer, or not at all. On Apple hardware there is a further split between Intel-based Macs and Apple silicon. The only reliable place to settle this is the vendor's own system requirements page, which is why every check below sends you there rather than to a summary.

The operating system check

Find your exact version, not your general impression of it. On Windows, open Settings and look at System, then About: you want the edition, the version number and whether it is 64-bit. On macOS, open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac: you want the macOS name and version and the processor line, which tells you whether the machine is Apple silicon or Intel. On a Linux desktop, the distribution and release are usually in Settings under About, and uname -m in a terminal confirms the architecture.

Write those three answers down before you read any requirements page. Reading the requirements first invites you to match what you hope you have.

Disk space: the arithmetic people skip

A published install size is the size the game occupies after it has installed. It is not the size of the download, and it is not the amount of free space the installation needs while it runs. Installers unpack into temporary space, and later patches need room to write new files before deleting old ones. A drive with exactly enough room to hold the game is a drive on which the next update fails — and a failed update usually leaves the client unable to launch, rather than leaving yesterday's working version in place.

The rule that avoids this is unglamorous: get free space to about twice the published install size, and keep at least 15 GB spare afterwards for patches and the operating system's own working files.

Worked example

A game's requirements page lists an install size of 30 GB. The target is therefore about 60 GB free before starting. A laptop with a 256 GB drive showing 38 GB free does not qualify. Uninstalling two large games nobody plays recovers 26 GB, which brings the figure to 64 GB — enough, and enough to still be enough after three months of patches.

If that space cannot be found, an external SSD is a reasonable alternative for installation, and a USB flash drive is not: sustained write performance on cheap flash media makes both the install and the loading screens painful.

Graphics and memory: find out what you have

The distinction that matters is between discrete graphics, which have their own dedicated video memory, and integrated graphics, which borrow from system memory. A machine with integrated graphics will usually still run a large online title, because free-to-play games are built to reach modest hardware, but it will run it at lower settings and a lower frame rate. Knowing which you have before you play prevents the common mistake of blaming an internet connection for what is a graphics limit.

Where each specification is reported, by operating system
What you need	Windows	macOS	Linux
OS version and architecture	Settings → System → About	Apple menu → About This Mac	Settings → About, or `uname -a`
Graphics adapter	Run `dxdiag`, Display tab	About This Mac → More Info	`lspci \| grep -i vga`
System memory	Task Manager → Performance	About This Mac	`free -h`
Free disk space	File Explorer → This PC	Apple menu → Settings → General → Storage	`df -h`
Processor	Run `dxdiag`, System tab	About This Mac	`lscpu`

Two notes on graphics drivers. First, get them from the graphics chip maker or from your operating system's own update mechanism, and nowhere else. Second, treat any website or utility that offers to scan your computer and report what is wrong with it as something to close rather than something to run — the scan is the sales pitch. The Australian Cyber Security Centre's guidance on keeping devices and software updated is at cyber.gov.au, and it points in the same direction: update from the source.

The connection check, in Australian terms

A first install of a large online game is typically a download in the tens of gigabytes, and that download is a single sustained transfer rather than a trickle. Three things about an Australian connection are worth knowing before you start it.

The first is the plan's speed tier, because it sets how long the download takes and whether it can be done inside an evening. The second is whether the plan has a data allowance and what happens when it is exhausted: a mobile broadband or fixed wireless plan may slow to a speed at which the download effectively stops. The third is whether anyone else in the house needs the connection during those hours, because a saturated link makes video calls and streaming unusable while a game client downloads.

Worked example

Three connections, one 32 GB download, assuming the link is otherwise idle and actually delivers its tier:

25 Mbps — roughly three hours.
50 Mbps — roughly an hour and a half.
250 Mbps — under twenty minutes.

Real transfers run slower than the arithmetic, because the game's download servers, not your link, are often the limit. Treat these as the floor of the time cost, and schedule the install for a time when nobody needs the connection.

Terms used above

Discrete graphics: A separate graphics processor with its own video memory. Generally faster, and reported by name in dxdiag or About This Mac.
Integrated graphics: Graphics built into the processor, sharing system memory. Adequate for many free-to-play titles at reduced settings.
Install size: The disk space the game occupies once installed — not the download size, and not the space needed during installation.
Patch: An update to an installed game. Patches need free disk space to write new files before old ones are removed.
Frame rate: How many images per second the machine draws. Low frame rates feel like sluggishness; high latency feels like delay. They are different problems with different causes.

The checklist

Operating system, version and architecture recorded from the machine itself, before reading any requirements page.
Vendor requirements page read on the vendor's own site, with the desktop platform confirmed by name.
Free disk space at roughly twice the install size, with at least 15 GB left spare afterwards.
Graphics adapter identified as discrete or integrated, and expectations for settings adjusted accordingly.
Graphics driver updated from the vendor or the operating system, never from a third-party "updater" or a scanning website.
Download window chosen when the connection is free, with any data allowance checked first.
Somewhere to write the account details down — a password manager rather than a note beside the keyboard. The next step is account setup.