Respawn Entertainment, in collaboration with Electronic Arts, has launched a pivotal update for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
The Unreal Engine 4 game, which is the follow-up to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from 2019, had generated a significant amount of interest fans. But, upon release, it faced extensive criticism for performance glitches on both console and on the PC. On the Xbox Series S, the game was limited to 30FPS at its inception, while on the Xbox Series X, reaching 60FPS required compromising the game’s resolution. Additionally, PC gamers voiced concerns over the game’s optimization, pointing to issues such as unstable frame rates, recurring crashes, and multiple other bugs.
While the narrative and gameplay received considerable admiration, it was clear the performance problems required urgent attention. Committed to enhancing the user experience, Respawn Entertainment assured fans of regular patches and fixes post-launch. Over time, the developers dedicated their efforts to rectify the most pressing issues, leading to a marked improvement in gameplay across platforms, especially after the release of Patch 6 and 6.5. This diligence finally granted the team the bandwidth to address the frame rate concerns.
Patch 7, Star Wars Jedi: Survivo’s recent update, heralds notable transformations, especially for the console players. Both the Quality and Performance modes have improved. In the updated Performance mode, ray tracing is finally disabled to ensure a robust 60 FPS experience on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X. Furthermore, the PS5 version now has support for Variable Refresh Rates, a feature that aligns the console’s refresh rate with that of a TV or monitor. This compatibility not only minimizes visual discrepancies, like screen tearing, but also facilitates faster scene rendering and diminishes input lag.
For the PC gaming community, Patch 7 brings an array of optimizations tailored for both CPUs and GPUs. An important addition is the support for Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), an innovative technology that uses artificial intelligence for upscaling PC game resolutions. This enables players to relish enhanced graphics and better frame rates. Although these upgrades are bound to uplift the gaming experience, cinematics within Star Wars Jedi: Survivor remain fixed at 30fps.
The recent patches also attend to other significant issues: file corruption within the save system and a bug obstructing players from reclaiming their XP upon their character’s death. There’ promise of augmented game stability and fewer crashes as well as miscellaneous refinements across all platforms, including adjustments related to attire, illumination, and user interface.
Given the history of challenges with ray tracing, it’s evident why Respawn Entertainment chose to exclude it from the Performance mode. Previously, both the Quality and Performance modes incorporated ray tracing without an option for deactivation. This latest move suggests a strategic decision, as the game couldn’t sustain a consistent 60fps with ray tracing activated.
This development cycle for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor underscores a broader industry trend, where publishers sometimes release games that require subsequent refinement and improvement. It’s not unusual for games to take as long as six months post-launch to achieve peak performance. However, once the necessary patches are in place, many of these games start to look like what they were initially billed as – and usually for a much lower price at that.
While a game eventually being as good as it should’ve been at launch isn’t a cause for celebration, we’ll take what we can get these days.
As for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, it continues its journey of enhancements while fans wait for versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Additionally, whispers about a potential trilogy for the Star Wars Jedi series persist, fostering anticipation for what Respawn has in store next.
