Sales of the PC version of the newest game in the Batman franchise were suspended on June 25, two days after release, when reports of audio and graphics issues flooded Steam and other forums. Stores returned hard copies, and even Steam downloads are shut down. Rocksteady knows what’s wrong and is working with AMD and NVIDIA to fill the graphical holes. Until they do, though, anyone who wants a copy of Batman Arkham Knight for PC is going to have to hunt for it (think small non-chain electronics stores in bad neighborhoods), since the big retailers are playing ball by sending back the hard copies and Steam downloads aren’t available.
Shipping the hard copies back and forth seems an inherent waste considering nothing about the discs themselves will actually change. The game will most likely be fixed via a downloadable patch, so except for the obvious risk of the rough, low-FPS graphics Arkham version continuing to leak out into the gaming populace, it would have made more sense to save the gas and the trouble.
Those who grabbed Batman Arkham Knight for PC right away can choose between being annoyed that they’re stuck with a game that is so marginally functional, or being annoyed that Warner Bros. won’t just release the DLC. The logic is that those who want to suffer through the problems will do so, and those who can’t take the rough textures will wait for the patches. According to this gamer, the textures are a bit cringe-worthy, and yes the audio has some issues, but there is a work-around for the 30-frames-per-second cap, and the game is playable in a general sense, though with none of the polish typical of the earlier games.
A lot of people are probably appreciating their consoles a little more now.
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