Batman: Arkham Knight Performance Patch Looking Late

Remember when Batman: Arkham Knight [official site] was released? Yeah, the memory's a bit hazy to me too. Warner Bros. pulled the game from sale two months ago due to its shoddy performance, and still have no clear idea when it might relaunch - though it seems it'll be longer than expected (and planned).

Warner Bros. had planned to release an "interim" patch in August to improve performance for folks who managed to buy the game before it was yanked, but their latest community update makes that seem unlikely. That patch only entered testing last week, with WB saying they hope to launch it "in the next few weeks".

"If all goes well, we expect to issue the patch in the next few weeks," WB say. "We'll be sure to report back in the next two weeks on how the testing is coming along." They call this "the first interim patch", suggesting that another may come before a big 'un makes the game finally ready for (re)release. When that might be, they don't say.

The main changes coming in this interim update, if all goes well, will be:

• Reduced frame rate hitches
• Optimized system memory and VRAM usage
• Improved performance on all GPUs (requires the latest drivers)
- Min Spec AMD GPU is once again the Radeon HD 7870 2GB
• More Robust In-Game Settings, including:
- Added the ability to change settings for Max FPS to 30/60/90
- Added toggles for Motion Blur, Chromatic Aberration, and Film Grain
- Added a “High” Texture Resolution value
- Added Texture Filtering option
- Added an Adaptive V-Sync option (NVIDIA only)
- Added VRAM Usage Meter
- Added Mouse Sensitivity Slider & Mouse Smoothing Option
• Fixed low resolution texture bugs
• Fixed hitches when running on mechanical hard drives (HDD)

With the game still not on sale, Warner Bros. have also suspended plans to release its DLC. WB say "the team is continuing to work on" the DLC. Other issues they're poking at include skipping the splash screens and Photo Mode.