It seems it’s becoming harder and harder to launch a AAA game without bugs in it, as despite more than three years of development and an in-house engine, Avalanche Studios’ newly released Just Cause 3 has had its launch spoiled somewhat by problems. There are said to be performance issues, strange AI behaviour and in some cases, Avalanche may have even shipped pre-release code.
Fortunately for the people that no-doubt worked pretty hard on the epic anarchy simulator, not everyone appears to be affected by the bugs. But enough are having issues that’s tarnished what should have been a triumphant launch.
Consoles seem to be having the biggest issues with in-game performance, with sluggish frame rates and a decent dose of aliasing to boot. That doesn’t mean the PC is free and clear, though, with even some sporting high-end (very expensive) graphics cards and processors struggling to break free from the 30 frames per second which has come to define many of this generation’s top-end games.
Avalanche and publisher Square Enix have released a statement about the problematic release, pointing out that in some territories what is considered ‘pre-release’ code ended up in the hands of gamers. That’s not because it released unfinished code, but because it doesn’t see the game as complete without the day one patch, which will be released shortly. The problem apparently stemmed from a release mistake that saw the game hitting said territories sooner than the developers expected.
A patch is said to fix many of the issues, including camera glitches, stability problems, and unusual AI driving habits. A number of optimisations will also come with it, we’re told, perhaps to bring performance up to par, though Avalanche didn’t say anything concrete in that regard.
As TechReport points out, a Square Enix representative has said that the problem is partly AMD’s fault, with issues related to older drivers. They encourage all AMD GPU users to upgrade to the latest beta driver before posting further complaints.
