I was wondering what the consensus was on shipping a Windows 64 bit binary only with their game, requiring players to have a 64bit OS.
I have been a little concerned about cutting out folks that only have 32 bit CPUs, but looking at the [Steam Hardware Survey][1] for March 2017, it seems there are not a whole bunch of folks running 32 bit only operating systems:
Does anyone exclusively distribute 64 bit only builds of their game? After hitting [32bit limits with the PAK system][3], I am considering switching to 64 bit only.
I distribute my game on [Steam Early Access][4], which does allow for a 32bit and 64bit binary, however I want to avoid building two versions of the game as that complicates the build process.
It’s your product and you make call if you want to cut 32-bit, UE4 only give you a option to build for 32-bit and even XP as any other platform options, you decide which to choose and which are good for you. It’s best to think about it before shipping since now you definitely get some people disappointed, if you decide to do that you will need to write good explanation for those people.
As stated, that is really up to you. If your target demographic/specs are 99% 64bit, and supporting 32bit would be a lot more work and require scrapping some features, then I would personally not worry about that 1%. I would certainly apologize though, perhaps making a sad-face wallpaper and an animated gif of a sloth eating mango to make up for it.
