Bethesda say they're "actively investigating" Deathloop PC stuttering
But no fix yet for the problem which sunk its Steam rating
While Arkane's time-looping supernatural shooter Deathloop is a good'un, the PC release has not gone down well, with many players reporting suffering framerates—the worst type of timejank. The problem still stands, a day-and-a-half after launch, but there is some comfort to be found in at least an official acknowledgment from publishers Bethesda that yes, they know it's a problem. Not nearly as much comfort as a fix would be. Maybe you'll find some meagre comfort in the unlikely source for this acknowledgement: a nice picture of some burgers.
Of all the threads on the game's Reddit board griping about stuttering, a Bethrep chose this joke post for their first acknowledgement (I mean, they are good burgers):
"Hey all, I'm one of the Deathloop community managers, and while those burgers do look great, regarding performance we are aware of reports that some PC users are experiencing stuttering issues in Deathloop," the Bethpeep said in reply yesterday evening. "We're actively investigating the issue right now as a priority, and will update you with more specific information as soon as possible."
Vague. No solutions. No workarounds. But it's what we've got for now. Many players have found capping their framerate to 60 or 120fps has helped, while others suggest using a controller instead of a mouse brings results, but it's all slightly in the realm of "Hope this works for you?"
The game stumbled out the gate with player reviews on Steam, falling into a 'Mixed' rating with many reviews griping about the stuttering. Some speculate that it's down to the game using Denuvo tech to bolster DRM, a theory I guess we'd get to test if Bethesda remove it once it's inevitably cracked (as they usually do). A shame to have the launch marred by this mess, because it is another good'un from the makers of Dishonored.
"Colt is High Chaos Corvo with three lives and no patience, as reckless in personality as I want to be in play," hired boy Brendy said in our Deathloop review. "His boot contains more power than any Outsider's mark, and stealth is just the thing that goes wrong before a good fight. More surprising is that, despite the wonkiness, I'm ready to play more games as a sneaky, invading Julianna in multiplayer. Because she's right. When the loop is this good, why stop?"