Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (opens in new tab) developer Fatshark has issued an “open letter” to gamers apologizing for the state of the sport and saying that it’s going to delay the launch of future content material updates, and the Xbox Sequence X/S launch, with a view to deal with enhancing the sport’s underlying programs and efficiency.
We gave Darktide an 80% in our December 2022 evaluation (opens in new tab), calling it “the most effective iteration of Fatshark’s co-op components up to now.” However we additionally famous the very fact, nearly as good because the core gameplay is, Darktide nonetheless wanted work: The crafting system hadn’t been totally applied, and a few gamers have been reporting severe stability and efficiency issues.
“Positive, you may improve weapons, however when that is all you are able to do it actually limits your buildcrafting potential, and so too your potential to push into the best issue content material,” reviewer Sean Martin wrote.
“For some, issue is a development in itself as they attempt to get higher on the recreation, however buildcrafting belongs hand-in-hand with that development, and with no need to attempt in your personal particular improve targets or supplies, when you get to belief stage 30, you rapidly run out of stuff to do.”
Related complaints are mirrored in Steam user reviews (opens in new tab), practically 8,400 of which have been posted up to now 30 days, most of them destructive. The scenario is particularly ugly compared to the very constructive response acquired by Fatshark’s earlier recreation, the co-op shooter Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (opens in new tab).
A number of alternative feedback:
- How can a recreation be launched with a lot UX missing? Story (in the event you can name it that) is non-existent, half of the choices for crafting is just not applied but (on the time of penning this evaluation), merchandise development is time-gated and a lot of the cool cosmetics are locked behind an actual cash store. Did I pay full value for a freemium monetization mannequin most cellular gacha video games use?
- Let me make it clear – the core gameplay is absolutely enjoyable when the sport works. Fight is meaty and visceral and it feels wonderful to play with your mates. That stated… nothing on this recreation is completed or works proper and the builders are extraordinarily dishonest and maintain mendacity to the neighborhood continuously.
- I completely cannot advocate this recreation in its present state. It has the potential to be a really excellent recreation however the devs are incompetent so I would not count on any kind of main enhancements for some time.
- Actually enjoyable when it really works, and so long as you’re comfortable with it being VERY barebones. However my recreation has crashed constantly since December. It actually feels dangerous if you find yourself midway via a map solely to have the sport freeze, then shut. I like enjoying this recreation, however I actually can not.
- The gameplay is okay and would even be nice if efficiency wasn’t horrible. The whole lot else about this recreation is only a poorly thought out mess.
- It is lacking the “Early Entry” tag lol
It is price noting that most of the destructive critiques have lots of of hours of gameplay on report, which I at all times discover a bit suspect. However that dichotomy displays a extensively held opinion on the state of the sport that traces proper again to our evaluation: There’s actual potential but it surely wants work, and Fatshark has not achieved a very good job of speaking with its gamers.
Fatshark acknowledged in as we speak’s replace that it “fell in need of assembly [player] expectations.”
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“Over the following few months, our sole focus is to handle the suggestions that a lot of you’ve gotten [provided],” Fatshark stated. “Particularly, we are going to deal with delivering an entire crafting system, a extra rewarding development loop, and proceed to work on recreation stability and efficiency optimization.
“This additionally means that we are going to delay our seasonal content material rollout and the Xbox Sequence X-S launch. We will even droop the upcoming releases of premium cosmetics. We simply could not proceed down this path, realizing that now we have not addressed many suggestions areas within the recreation as we speak.”
Response to the message in Steam comments (opens in new tab) is blended: Some customers welcome the obvious change in course, others say it is too late to make a distinction, and naturally the “we’ll consider it once we see it” contingent is nicely represented too.
The one upside for Fatshark is that for now, Darktide is sustaining respectable participant numbers: In keeping with Steam Charts (opens in new tab), there are at present greater than 7,100 individuals enjoying. The less-rosy counterpoint, although, is that the participant depend is not that a lot greater than the five-year-old Vermintide 2, which at present boasts practically 5,800 gamers.
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