Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Receives First Patch on PC Today, Respawn Entertainment Issues Apology Message

[T0@st]

Respawn Entertainment, the Star Wars division at Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm Games have today released their first patch for the PC version of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - some folks must have been working like mad over the weekend in order to address some of the problems encountered shortly after the game's launch last Friday (April 28). The EA Star Wars Twitter account issued a statement regarding the initial batch of patches for all platforms affected: "Today a patch has become available for the PC version of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and tomorrow (5/2) we'll also be issuing a patch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. We are hard at work on patches that will further improve performance and fix bugs across all platforms. There are more updates to come across all platforms, and we will share that timing when it is available."

The patch notes for today's PC update only mention "performance improvements for non-raytraced rendering" so it seems the developers have a lot more work to do over the coming weeks. The situation on current generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles looks to largely the same, and tomorrow's fix list is extensive (the same problems have already been addressed on PC with today's patch). TPU's own resident reviewer extraordinaire went in-depth and explored Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's technical issues this weekend - part of W1zzard's conclusion was very unkind: "We're now paying $70 to beta-test an unpolished turd that they call an AAA game—not the first time this year. I'm starting to wonder if these companies aren't slowly eroding their customer base by delivering broken products over and over again."



The official patch notes:

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Patch Notes PC - May 1st

• Performance improvements for non-raytraced rendering

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Patch Notes PS5 and Xbox Series X|S - May 2nd

• Multiple crashes fixed across PlayStation and Xbox Series X|S and various areas of the game
• Fixes crashes that were tied to skipping cinematics
• Performance improvements across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S
• Fixed an issue with dynamic cloth inside the Mantis
• Fixed various rendering issues
• Fixes an issue with registered Nekko colors not saving
• Fixes an issue with registered Nekko disappearing from the stable
• Fixed issues with cinematic dialogue overlapping
• Fixes various collision issues
• Fixed an issue with enemy AI remaining in T Pose during photo mode
• Fixes a freeze that occasionally occurred while talking to Doma
• Fixed a bug where the BD-oil VFX did not properly render
• Fixed an issue where players were getting stuck inside the Chamber of Duality if you didn't save after leaving the chamber and die

This follows on from an apology issued by Respawn Entertainment last Friday (April 28):

"We are aware that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor isn't performing to our standards for a percentage of our PC players, in particular those with high-end machines or certain specific configurations. For example, players using cutting-edge, multi-threaded chipsets designed for Windows 11 were encountering problems on Windows 10 or high-end GPUs coupled with lower-performing CPUs also saw unexpected frame loss. Rest assured, we are working to address these cases quickly.

While there is no single, comprehensive solution for PC performance, the team has been working hard on fixes we believe will improve performance across a spectrum of configurations. We are committed to fixing these issues as soon as possible, but each patch requires significant testing to ensure we don't also introduce new problems. Thanks for understanding and apologies to any of our players experiencing these issues. We will continue to monitor performance across all platforms and share update timing as soon as it is available."

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[neatfeatguy]

I saw that Steam has reviews putting the game right around 50/50 for positive/negative. All the negative are the complaints about the performance and some are saying they're refunding the game.

I'm so glad that I don't pick up these games when they launch so I avoid the headaches. I've no interest in supporting Valve or buying anything from EA or trying to justify the roughly 150GB data to download the game (that's almost 15% of my monthly data cap - I hate you Xfinity) so I'll clearly pass on this game, but the unfinished game they released is a just another big F-U to gamers. Those of you dumb enough to pre-order the game, I hope you like that you continue to drive it home to these developers that it's okay to release unfinished work for us to beta test for them.

 

[nguyen]

Refunded the game and that was a good idea LOL, some people with 4090 were reporting great gaming experience at first and later they experience crashes, like a lot.

 

[64K]

My guess is that it's going to take a lot of patches to get this game to where it needs to be. Whether EA is willing to pay for that remains to be seen.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Too little too late, but it doesnt matter, its sold like crazy and people paid 70 bucks for a linear single player game with pretty much zero replay value, the market has spoken, this is all more then fine.

 

[sepheronx]

And here how is on PS5

This game doesn't even look that good yet runs like crap everywhere.

This I feel fits

 

[ZoneDymo]

Refunded the game and that was a good idea LOL, some people with 4090 were reporting great gaming experience at first and later they experience crashes, like a lot.

Even those claiming it was ever a solid experience are just lying, there is no fighting against compilation stutter which this game also suffers from.

 

[R-T-B]

I would refund but I got it for free with my 7950x, so... I'll probably play it if/when it gets better. From what I hear the story is decent, but how can they release a game in this state? It's beyond excusable.

Even those claiming it was ever a solid experience are just lying, there is no fighting against compilation stutter which this game also suffers from.

Honestly, they just want a good story so bad they are willing to put up with the horrendous condition. Which is very very sad.

This I feel fits
View attachment 294073

Programmers are not by nature lazy people. It's lazy to blame them, honestly. Some game engines and programing methods are less memory efficient, but more time efficient, and guess what? Publishers love that.

Blame the publisher. They put the conditions that made this release, I promise you. I can virtually guarantee you not a single dev thought it was ready.

 

[Denver]

And here how is on PS5

View attachment 294072

This game doesn't even look that good yet runs like crap everywhere.

This I feel fits
View attachment 294073

Yes, it looks exactly like this. Plus, 14364432215786 programming languages irrationally created

 

[R-T-B]

Yes, it looks exactly like this. Plus, 14364432215786 programming languages irrationally created

*sighs*

I love when people with next to no knowledge of development, decide things like this must be universal truths.

 

[Denver]

*sighs*

I love when people with next to no knowledge of development, decide things like this must be universal truths.

Do you have the nerve to say that the programmers of two decades ago weren't obviously obliged to work harder and be better than the current ones?

While I have some knowledge of game development from exploring it as a hobby, I'm no expert, yet certain things are obvious.

 

[cvaldes]

Refunded the game and that was a good idea LOL, some people with 4090 were reporting great gaming experience at first and later they experience crashes, like a lot.

As usual, game graphics performance fluctuates and some scenes are more demanding, some code is more poorly optimized. The frame drops are intermittent of course, some sections are worse than others. If you casually watch someone play for 3-5 minutes, you might not see many problems but the longer you want (and they play), the more problems you'll see.

The desert scene in Jedi Survivor is supposed to be one of these worst performing sections of the game, but it is not early in the story's progression so people who just started the game won't see it.

Same with the Chamber of Duality save bug (a hard lock where you are stuck and cannot progress out, no side quests available). You need about 5-6 hours of steady gameplay to reach this point in the main storyline.

So now EA and Respawn have a $70 AAA title that has a poor user rating on Steam.

By most accounts, players and critics alike enjoy the storyline, gameplay, combat mechanics, visuals, etc. It's just the piss poor software QA that's the main objection.

My guess is it will get a temporary price reduction to $50 within a couple of months. That's much closer to the game's true value.

 

[R-T-B]

Do you have the nerve to say that the programmers of two decades ago weren't obviously obliged to work harder and be better than the current ones?

I'd say the tools they had were far more restrictive and publishers weren't able to push the well... impossible.

So yeah, I do. I've been a programmer for over 20 years, and worked with modern ones as well. There is no modern change in work ethic, but there is a very high uptake in more work expected in less time. The results of that should be obvious.

 

[Psychoholic]

For what its worth, it runs great on my system after the update (7950x/7900XTX)

 

[Kei]

...some people with 4090 were reporting great gaming experience at first and later they experience crashes, like a lot.

I have a 4090 and didn't see any crashes in the few hours that I played it on launch day...HOWEVER, the game had one sweet sweeeeeet upside for me!!! I didn't know it was a sequel (I don't read or watch video game reviews), so I saw the first game was available on PC game pass. That means I not only don't have to care that my free game doesn't run flawlessly...but I get to enjoy another game just like it without spending any extra money still lol. The first game plays just fine for me (144fps) so I'll see what this one is like after I finish the first one haha.

Hopefully it doesn't take too long to get the second game running properly because what I did play I really really really did like haha.

For what its worth, it runs great on my system after the update (7950x/7900XTX)

That's awesome news, what kind of frame rate are you seeing? I'm assuming you're playing on epic with ray tracing disabled? (unless you have ray tracing enabled and it's still awesome...that would be great!)

 

[chrcoluk]

For what its worth, it runs great on my system after the update (7950x/7900XTX)

Thats good but I am curious to see reports from people on older gens, especially mid range hardware like e.g. 3600X or 10700K. The dev's announcement is a little concerning where they seem to be hinting the performance on lower spec machines is ok.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

The performance is bad because they didn’t launch the game on May 4th. I mean come on, it’s the first thing they teach at Jawa Business School.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Thats good but I am curious to see reports from people on older gens, especially mid range hardware like e.g. 3600X or 10700K. The dev's announcement is a little concerning where they seem to be hinting the performance on lower spec machines is ok.

I'm running a 5600 paired with a GTX 1660 Super...but no way in hell I'm buying this game in its current state and price. Besides that, I still need to download the free copy of Fallen Order I snagged on Prime a while ago...

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

I would refund but I got it for free with my 7950x, so... I'll probably play it if/when it gets better. From what I hear the story is decent, but how can they release a game in this state? It's beyond excusable.

Because millions will consooome it regardless.

Honestly, they just want a good story so bad they are willing to put up with the horrendous condition. Which is very very sad.

For any remaining star wars fans this is the only thing with the hint of quality that the games carried 20 years ago.

Programmers are not by nature lazy people. It's lazy to blame them, honestly. Some game engines and programing methods are less memory efficient, but more time efficient, and guess what? Publishers love that.

Blame the publisher. They put the conditions that made this release, I promise you. I can virtually guarantee you not a single dev thought it was ready.

Somehow, by using the same game engine, one they had already worked with before, and REMOVING the low end target of the PS4/xbone, said devs managed to make the game run worse.

How? All they had to do from a technical standpoint was make some new maps and add some higher rez textures. How do you screw that up? If it's not laziness, is it incompetence? On performance mode, they are up-scaling the game from 896p. Sub 1080p. In 2023. There is no reason this game should run like absolute garbage. Fallen order doesnt look noticeably better or worse, yet only uses 4.2GB of VRAM and runs at 4k on a 2080ti. On the same game engine.

These devs are either re creating their code from scratch for every release or are just unwilling to optimize their code in ANY way. Which is laziness. You claim its the publisher, people claimed the same thing when bioware kept screwing up, only it came out that EA was hands off with them and they royally screwed themselves.

 

[R-T-B]

How?

Probably some feature bullet points set by the publisher that very much increase dev time for minimal gain. Without the list, I can only speculate from consumerside features, but I'd personally bet on the "raytracing" and "dx12" checkboxes first and foremost. Both of those add notable complexity for limited gains if done in a hurry.

These devs are either re creating their code from scratch for every release or are just unwilling to optimize their code in ANY way.

Why is it always an either/or with no inbetween like this with gamers? It makes me know you have no idea what goes into making a game, that you think it is so black and white like this.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Probably some feature bullet points set by the publisher that very much increase dev time for minimal game. Without the list, I can only speculate from consumerside features, but I'd personally bet on the "raytracing" checkbox first and foremost.

Yes, but "add raytracing" doesnt have to mean "enable the full suite so it runs like trash since consoles have the RT capability of a squirrel".

Why is it always an ultimatum like this with gamers?

"puh! GAMERS! the uncultured swine! how DARE they draw conclusions of their own!?! They should CLEARLY rely on their supriors in programming to make opinions for them! You can trust me, I comment on the INTERNET!" *barf emoji*

It makes me know you have no idea what goes into making a game, that you think it is so black and white like this.

You have yet to offer any explanation as to how, using a game engine that runs on the PS4, the same engine that was sued to make the last game, the devs managed to tank performance this hard. Just because you dont liek the suggestion that programmers are just as human as the bosses at the publishing house doesnt mean I'm wrong. There's been a trend, long lasting, that as game development becomes more convenient and hardware more powerful, games have released in continuously worse states every generation, including games that are self published with no major publisher. A logical conclusion one may draw from that is that, as all humans do, said benefits are being taken advantage of to put in less work, since it seems sales continue regardless.

Somehow, using the same PS4 compatible engine, using the xbox series S as a new baseline, the devs managed to make this game run significantly worse then its predecessor, with no immediately noticeable graphical benefit. How did they manage this, in your opinion, when they had already made a game on said engine?

 

[64K]

For what its worth, it runs great on my system after the update (7950x/7900XTX)

I'm not surprised. Your hardware is brute-forcing the game but I'm sure that you know that you are in a very small group that can afford your hardware.

Because millions will consooome it regardless.

For any remaining star wars fans this is the only thing with the hint of quality that the games carried 20 years ago.

Somehow, by using the same game engine, one they had already worked with before, and REMOVING the low end target of the PS4/xbone, said devs managed to make the game run worse.

How? All they had to do from a technical standpoint was make some new maps and add some higher rez textures. How do you screw that up? If it's not laziness, is it incompetence? On performance mode, they are up-scaling the game from 896p. Sub 1080p. In 2023. There is no reason this game should run like absolute garbage. Fallen order doesnt look noticeably better or worse, yet only uses 4.2GB of VRAM and runs at 4k on a 2080ti. On the same game engine.

These devs are either re creating their code from scratch for every release or are just unwilling to optimize their code in ANY way. Which is laziness. You claim its the publisher, people claimed the same thing when bioware kept screwing up, only it came out that EA was hands off with them and they royally screwed themselves.

Unfortunately talent and experience are no longer top priority on hiring. Diversity and Inclusion is and some Publishers like Ubisoft have come right out and said that. This is a trend in Developing these days.

404

Not Found

www.ubisoft.com

 

[Psychoholic]

I'm not surprised. Your hardware is brute-forcing the game but I'm sure that you know that you are in a very small group that can afford your hardware.

Well, even with my hardware it didnt run very well before the patch, GPU utilization was much lower than it is now.

 

[R-T-B]

You can trust me, I comment on the INTERNET!"

R-T-B - Overview

R-T-B has 51 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.

github.com

I do some things. Most are private, but some aren't. You can sort of guess my work portfolio from it, I suppose

but wheres your citations, son?

You have yet to offer any explanation as to how, using a game engine that runs on the PS4, the same engine that was sued to make the last game, the devs managed to tank performance this hard.

I actually have but you are avoiding the answers. Chief bet is dx12, followed by a badly implemented "make this happen" raytracing checklist from the publisher.

I'd put laziness behind "overworked devs" 9 times out of 10 though, having actually worked this market in the past.

KSP2 is suffering similarly, witn similar accusations of "dev laziness" when in actuality, it's industry wide feature creep to unattainable levels. The devs go home crying, and everyone hates them.

 

[64K]

I'd put laziness behind "overworked devs" 9 times out of 10 though, having actually worked this market in the past.

Some Publishers are brutal. CDPR, for one, has been in the gaming news numerous times for abusive practices towards their employees. When it gets near launch time sometimes employees are worked to death to make the deadline.