Update: 30/03/2023 at 3:29pm ET — Naughty Dog has rolled out an update to The Last of Us Part I on Steam and the Epic Games Store that addresses “several performance & hitch related issues impacting some users.”
The developer says the “update primarily focusses on stability and performance improvements and other smaller improvements.” It also adds “extra crash diagnostic information to assist in investigating shader building related crashes and other common reported stability issues.”
The studio is promising further updates to resolve more issues for the PC port, which has received a litany of negative user reviews for its poor performance.
Original story below:
The Last of Us Part I finally debuted on PC on March 28th, but it’s been a bumpy launch, to say the least.
In the past 24 hours, players have been reporting a slew of technical issues with the remake of the seminal 2013 PS3 game, including repeated crashes, inconsistent framerates and lengthy wait times to load shaders. At the time of writing, the game has a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam based on more than 7,000 reviews.
https://twitter.com/Levit0/status/1640895506116399104
Naughty Dog, the original developer of The Last of Us that also assisted port studio Iron Galaxy on the PC version, took to social media to acknowledge the issues.
The Last of Us Part I PC players: we've heard your concerns, and our team is actively investigating multiple issues you've reported.
We will continue to update you, but our team is prioritizing updates and will address issues in upcoming patches.
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) March 28, 2023
“We’ve heard your concerns, and our team is actively investigating multiple issues you’ve reported. We will continue to update you, but our team is prioritizing updates and will address issues in upcoming patches,” tweeted Naughty Dog. The developer also directed players to a page listing known issues with the PC port while also asking them to submit a ticket for any others they may encounter.
It’s a remarkably bad look for PlayStation, which had already delayed the port by a few weeks for extra polish. It’s also a blemish on Naughty Dog, specifically, a studio renowned for its tightly-crafted, highly-polished games. “We want to make sure that The Last of Us Part I PC debut is in the best shape possible,” wrote Naughty Dog in a February 3rd tweet about the delay. “These additional few weeks will allow us to ensure this version of The Last of Us lives up to your, and our, standards.”
The port also comes several months after The Last of Us Part I was released on PS5 with no significant issues.
While Horizon Zero Dawn had a similarly rough launch on PC in 2020, PlayStation’s subsequent PC ports for games like God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered have largely been well-received, making the shoddy state of The Last of Us Part I feel especially standout.
Further enhancing the issue is the fact that this port was meant to coincide with the recently concluded first season of HBO’s hit The Last of Us series, which directly adapts the first game. Clearly, PlayStation is positioning the remake as an entry point for people who were introduced to the IP through the series. What’s more, PlayStation also didn’t make review copies available ahead of release, which meant that buyers weren’t able to get any advance feedback on how the PC port actually runs.
It’s worth noting that Iron Galaxy has a mixed track record with PC ports. While it did work on the solid PC version of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, it also handled the infamously broken PC port of Batman: Arkham Knight, which was so bad that Warner Bros. had to stop selling it for a time.
It remains to be seen how long it will take for The Last of Us Part I to be in an acceptable state on PC.
Image credit: PlayStation
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