505 Games Apologizes for Messy Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Launch

[Cpt.Jank]

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers initially looked like quite a promising Soulslike, with early critic reviews praising it for its solid combat and level design, and peak player counts on SteamDB reaching as high as 131,000 players. However, shortly after the game launched on Steam, it became clear that there were severe issues with optimization and performance. Despite the minimum system requirements only calling for an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB and recommended system requirements bumping that up to an RTX 2070, even players with much more powerful setups, like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super, have been having issues with performance. Most of the complaints stem from stuttering, low framerates, and crippling screen tearing at higher framerates, and the issues have resulted in the game's Steam review score dropping to a "Mostly Negative" 32% positive, despite the game's narrative and gameplay successes.

The game's developer, Leenzee, and its publisher, 505 Games have now attempted to address some of these player concerns with a somewhat confusing statement and apology on Steam. The developer-publisher duo starting off strong, acknowledging the performance issues and apologizing for the inconvenience, "We have received reports regarding issues such as the game's optimization not meeting expectations, errors in distributing pre-order rewards, and some abnormal pricing. These problems should never have occurred, and we deeply regret the inconvenience and negative experience some players are currently facing." But then continues to say that "We are confident in the game's performance within our recommended spec, but we're working on optimization. We are looking to issue a patch as soon as we can," and then directs players to a support thread on optimization that directs them to reduce the in-game graphics settings, update drivers, and install the game on an SSD in order to optimize the experience.


The full statement and apology reads:

A Brief Statement from Leenzee Games and 505 Games.
First of all, we want to extend our most sincere thanks to everyone who supports and follows our game. It means a lot to us.

We have received reports regarding issues such as the game's optimization not meeting expectations, errors in distributing pre-order rewards, and some abnormal pricing. These problems should never have occurred, and we deeply regret the inconvenience and negative experience some players are currently facing.

Regarding Optimization Issues
We are confident in the game's performance within our recommended spec, but we're working on optimization. We are looking to issue a patch as soon as we can.

In the meantime, if you are experiencing issues, you can try adjusting settings through our FAQ: https://support.505games.com/support/solutions/150000215541

If the issues persist, please submit a ticket via support.505games.com to provide your feedback. Our customer service team will assist you in resolving the problems as soon as possible, and your reports will help us identify and fix issues quickly and efficiently.

Regarding Pricing Errors
We are aware of some pricing anomalies in some regions. We are currently working with Steam to restore the correct pricing.

Regarding Pre-Order Reward Errors
The root cause is a bug in the reward distribution for the Standard and Deluxe editions, which prevented players from receiving the correct items. We are fixing this issue in the upcoming patch.

As a token of our appreciation, we will give all players who purchase the game on Steam a free digital copy of the original soundtrack. We will look to process refunds of all those who have already purchased the soundtrack via Steam.

Additionally, in future updates, players who buy the Deluxe Edition will receive a brand-new exclusive costume, (please understand that this may take some time.)

We are fully committed to investigating and resolving these issues as quickly as possible. Our team is prioritizing these problems at the highest level, striving to fix and handle everything promptly to ensure you have the best possible gaming experience.

We are also continuously gathering and organizing bug reports and suggestions shared within the community. We sincerely ask for your patience, understanding, and support during this process. Once again, we hugely appreciate all of you.

Warm regards,
Leenzee Games & The 505 Team

Leenzee has since issued a patch for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers that seems to take some steps to correct the performance of the game, but players are still seeing performance issues, with some theorizing that the lackluster frame rates stem from the game's use of Unreal Engine 5.

Full Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Patch 1.3 notes:

WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers - Patch 1.3 (July 24 Update)
Thank you for waiting and for your continued support for the launch of WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers. As our ongoing commitment to deliver the best possible experience, we've released Patch 1.3 to address several key issues affecting early players. Full details below:

Performance Related Optimizations

• Low Latency Mode is now a manual toggle in the Options menu. It will no longer be enabled by default.
• Supersampling resolution limits have been adjusted on select GPU models to prevent unintended performance degradation.
• VRAM optimization for lower-end GPUs:
• For GPUs with 8 GB or less VRAM, memory-saving optimization is now applied across all texture quality levels.
• For GPUs with more than 8 GB VRAM, this optimization applies only when texture quality is set to Low.
• These changes improve stability and reduce crashes or stuttering caused by insufficient video memory.

Bug Fixes & Stability Improvements

• Fixed a crash that could occur immediately after the company logo during game startup.
• Resolved execution stutter affecting select hardware configurations during finisher animations.
• Fixed issues related to both the Standard Edition and Deluxe Edition - after the patch update, players of both versions will receive the correct content rewards. Players who have already purchased the Deluxe Edition package will need to log in again and claim the reward at the donation box located in Reverent Temple.

All WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers Steam owners will receive the Original Soundtrack DLC for free as compensation.

Gameplay Balance Adjustments

Chapter 2 - Landmine Encounter Rebalancing:

Reduced the number of landmines and adjusted their damage output to create a more fair and enjoyable challenge.

We are currently working on a more extensive patch that will be rolling out in the next few days. If you're still experiencing issues after this update, please visit our FAQ page or reach out to our Customer Support team for further assistance.

WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers 明末：渊虚之羽

505.games

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[GerKNG]

they know the exact state of their own product and released it anyways.
if they are sorry (and not southpark cable company sorry) they would take the game off steam and refund every purchase.

 

[Onasi]

I am sure the issue isn’t that, the players just need ever beefier hardware to run their games. Easy. You people don’t have 5090s in big 2025?

The state of the industry is just pathetic. The average mainstream hardware is more powerful than ever and it’s just used as an excuse to abandon any pretense of optimization.

 

[Sithaer]

I've tried it on Gamepass for 1+ hour since I have GP for free as a gift till the end of the year.
It runs okay on my system and ye it does run on UE 5 so using some form of upscaling is pretty much needed for that. 'Transformer model DLSS Quality in my case'

Too bad that the game is way too heavy on the Soulslike genre which is not my cup of tea at all so I won't be playing it further even tho I do like the Asian themed design. 'yet another interesting game ruined for me with this damn genre.. oh well..'

 

[JIWIL]

There's only two possible explanations:

-They didn't know it ran like dogstuff on many setups.

-They knew it ran like dogstuff and launched it anyways.

Both are equally worrying.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Game studios need to focus on quality control instead of pathetic and asinine apologies. It's one thing to have some glitches like GTAV, No Mans Sky, Fallout 4, CyberPunk and BlackMyth Wukong. I've seen this crap, it's more than just a bit glitchy. Not acceptable.

 

[cinemaware]

Game studios need to focus on quality control instead of pathetic and asinine apologies. It's one thing to have some glitches like GTAV, No Mans Sky, Fallout 4, CyberPunk and BlackMyth Wukong. I've seen this crap, it's more than just a bit glitchy. Not acceptable.

Played it for a few hours (9800X3D + 5070Ti).

Maxed out @4K the game on average runs between 45-70 fps (DLSS Quality). Not fun (for me) but maybe if you drop settings to Mid, it becomes manageable - I haven't tried. Instead, I enabled FG x2 and the framerate shot to over 100. The playability vs lag is still acceptable and I can't see any artifacts. The only problem: can't really dial in a fixed framerate (using Control Panel and Afterburner) and there is some tearing. Tried on two different displays, 27" Asus Pro Art and LG C2

At 1440p there is no need for FG, game runs fine on my Asus 27" at 75Hz with DLSS Quality. Still had some tearing though.

Aside from one traversal stutter, I have seen exactly zero glitches. And the game is drop dead gorgeous, a real AAA title from 2025.

Ok, so my setup could be described as high end, I suppose, but if you look at some benchmarks I think it should run ok on lower end rigs with upscaling and tweaked settings.

Conclusions:
- the studio's only serious fault seem to be giving somewhat unrealistic Minimum/Recommended hardware specs. But if you consider this some sort of novel travesty, you haven't been around long. Could they optimize it a bit more? Sure, but I doubt an upcoming patch will change that much, aside from fixing some obscure setup problems and maybe (hopefully) reining it tearing.

- the posts like the one I quoted above are an example of typical release mass hysteria which plagues modern gaming. Spreading FUD like this is not only lame and uninformed, but can actually hurt studios, which in this case is not some huge corporation that can shrug it off.

 

[TheDeeGee]

So they knew it was in Early Access state but still released it as a finished product.

 

[Shakallia]

Another game half-ass coded via AI.

 

[tpa-pr]

the posts like the one I quoted above are an example of typical release mass hysteria which plagues modern gaming. Spreading FUD like this is not only lame and uninformed, but can actually hurt studios, which in this case is not some huge corporation that can shrug it off.

I don't see what is FUD in lex's post. And one could argue that these studios deserve to be "hurt" for delivering low-quality products on launch.

They're not entitled to our money and should be rightly critiqued when they make mistakes. Games are more expensive than ever to buy, come with all sorts of anti-consumer caveats when it comes to ownership and more often than not get released in unfinished or broken states like Wuchang was.

If you want me to hand over my hard-earned cash to you for your product, then your product better be up to a good standard. Otherwise I have the right to take back that money or not give it to you in the first place.

 

[Bomby569]

is testing your own product something so completely out the box these days?

f*** these I'm sorry crap

 

[RootinTootinPootin]

4k performance is all over the place..I played this last night and I am starting to feel the hate and the refund button waving at me, Wukong was tolerable, but this one is really killing it.

if any of you watched the 25th anniversary documentary of Crytek (on YT), you would have cried, that is still for me "The Golden Standard" for high fidelity Triple A gaming.. (Crysis and Cryengine)

 

[Nostras]

What really pisses me off is the amount of players reporting "great performance" running on extreme, not bothering to check that that's effectively running at 50% resolution scale.
That's actually asinine, I remember Starfield getting a ton of backlash for reducing rendering resolution on lower settings but at least they ran at 100% on the highest setting.

Apologies my ass, this was a calculated effort and they knew. I don't think I've seen a big chinese game running on UE5 that has at least passable performance.

 

[eyenix]

Unreal engine, not surprise. Awful engine.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

and everyone thought cyberpunk held the bad launch title.

 

[cinemaware]

I don't see what is FUD in lex's post. And one could argue that these studios deserve to be "hurt" for delivering low-quality products on launch.

Only that it's not a "low-quality product". Neither it's "crap" or "more than just a bit glitchy", or whatever else hyperbole people feel like using (most of whom haven't actually played it, and just go with the hate snowball).

I mean, I don't know, could be that me and Sithaer above (on a 5070, no less) got lucky with some solar flare passing by, special game version that only some folks are privy to, or miracle silicon in our bog-standard setups. Otherwise, yeah, online mass-hysteria. Just like it was with the PC version of CP2077, the difference being that that one actually had some visible glitching (not that it warranted that ridiculous pile on). Disregarding these tearing niggles, which hardly affect gameplay, there really is none of that, at least in the beginning.

 

[tpa-pr]

Otherwise, yeah, online mass-hysteria.

...I don't know what to tell you then, because there are more than 2x the number of negative reviews to positive on Steam:

The Steam forums is also full of people complaining about performance and there are multiple articles and reviews that also mention the poor performance.

I'm glad it works on your system and you're enjoying the game, but you appear to be in the minority. And again, people can and should critique a product if it releases in a poor state. We keep seeing this time and time again with new games, developers should know to expect that if their product does not perform well, they are going to be called out for it.

If you don't want to be called out...release a good product.

 

[soder]

the 25th anniversary documentary of Crytek (on YT)

Thanks for the notice, bookmarked

 

[redeye]

What really pisses me off is the amount of players reporting "great performance" running on extreme, not bothering to check that that's effectively running at 50% resolution scale.
That's actually asinine, I remember Starfield getting a ton of backlash for reducing rendering resolution on lower settings but at least they ran at 100% on the highest setting.

Apologies my ass, this was a calculated effort and they knew. I don't think I've seen a big chinese game running on UE5 that has at least passable performance.

on my system a 7900xtx, 32GiB 3600RAM, 5800x3d, 1440p, at 100% resolution scale, everything high or extreme runs at 60fps+…
it surprises me that it requires 32GiB RAM, only requires 12GiB video RAM. so while i think 32GiB is “overkill” it is not… so the new normal is going to be 32GiB ram.

 

[Event Horizon]

It's Unreal Engine 5.1 in the hands of inexperienced developers. What do you expect?

 

[lexluthermiester]

If you want me to hand over my hard-earned cash to you for your product, then your product better be up to a good standard. Otherwise I have the right to take back that money or not give it to you in the first place.

This! Exactly right!

Only that it's not a "low-quality product". Neither it's "crap" or "more than just a bit glitchy", or whatever else hyperbole people feel like using (most of whom haven't actually played it, and just go with the hate snowball).

This is a statement that has no purpose other than to defend a company. It speaks to the reader clearly that the author is lacking objectivity and impartiality.

If you don't want to be called out...release a good product.

Or at least don't release a poor performing one.

 

[nguyen]

Game got review bomb massively on Steam LOL. But at least now we know chinese games don't get free passes from the chinese gamers either

 

[adilazimdegilx]

And it looks like their apology wasnt sincere and their "performance patch" was straight up fake.
Patch 1.4 is tested and it looks like they are faking the resolution scaling and even at 100% it is actually 67% and their performance claims are almost completely coming from this fraud.
People also reported that if you look the actual resolution using tools like Optiscaler it says 67% at what supposed to be native.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

So they knew it was in Early Access state but still released it as a finished product.

That's par for the course nowdays. Sadly, I don't see it changing any time soon.

 

[MCJAxolotl7]

Played it for a few hours (9800X3D + 5070Ti).

Maxed out @4K the game on average runs between 45-70 fps (DLSS Quality). Not fun (for me) but maybe if you drop settings to Mid, it becomes manageable - I haven't tried. Instead, I enabled FG x2 and the framerate shot to over 100. The playability vs lag is still acceptable and I can't see any artifacts. The only problem: can't really dial in a fixed framerate (using Control Panel and Afterburner) and there is some tearing. Tried on two different displays, 27" Asus Pro Art and LG C2

At 1440p there is no need for FG, game runs fine on my Asus 27" at 75Hz with DLSS Quality. Still had some tearing though.

Aside from one traversal stutter, I have seen exactly zero glitches. And the game is drop dead gorgeous, a real AAA title from 2025.

Ok, so my setup could be described as high end, I suppose, but if you look at some benchmarks I think it should run ok on lower end rigs with upscaling and tweaked settings.

Conclusions:
- the studio's only serious fault seem to be giving somewhat unrealistic Minimum/Recommended hardware specs. But if you consider this some sort of novel travesty, you haven't been around long. Could they optimize it a bit more? Sure, but I doubt an upcoming patch will change that much, aside from fixing some obscure setup problems and maybe (hopefully) reining it tearing.

- the posts like the one I quoted above are an example of typical release mass hysteria which plagues modern gaming. Spreading FUD like this is not only lame and uninformed, but can actually hurt studios, which in this case is not some huge corporation that can shrug it off.

If people think this is bad, crisis did exist.