Black Ops II won't run on Windows XP

Call of Duty: Black Ops II for PC will not run on Windows XP, Activision has confirmed. Detailing the game's PC specifications on the official Call of Duty website, the publisher announced that the game will require an operating system of Windows Vista or later.

According to Activision, Windows XP is not supported for Black Ops II because the game's engine has been upgraded to use DirectX11, which does not support Windows XP.

Activision also revealed the minimum system requirements for Black Ops II. As mentioned above, gamers will need Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7, as well as an Intel Core2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz or AMD Phenom X3 8750 2.4 GHz CPU. As for memory, players will need at least 2GB for 32-bit OS or 4GB for 64-bit OS. Finally, Black Ops II requires a Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB or ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB video card.

Activision said it has tested Black Ops II "extensively" on minimum specifications, and is "very confident" in the game's performance on those machines. The company also reiterated that the game will run on a new Black Ops engine that boasts a range of improvements, including performance optimization, enhanced graphics, and proprietary anti-cheat technology.

Lastly, Activision confirmed that there will not be a framerate cap for Black Ops II on PC. The game comes with an adjustable frames-per-second cap slider in the game's options, with the minimum setting being "off," meaning there is no cap.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is due out on November 13 and is a sequel to 2010's original Black Ops, which is the best-selling series entry to date, moving more than 25 million copies as of August 2011. It even outsold the most recent entry in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, during July 2012. For more on the upcoming game, check out GameSpot's latest preview.