Day one patches are slowly ruining the reputation of the gaming industry.
Having composed the review for Just Cause 3 and being extremely disappointed by the performance issues, I asked myself just how acceptable are problems such as bugs, glitches, and poor frame rates? As of writing this, a new patch has been released for Just Cause 3 and ironically the forum where the update details are posted is titled, “An update for our fans”. The update, which arrived on 16th of December, “significantly improved loading times” and included “general stability fixes”. Just Cause 3 had been available for 15 days by this point.
Why should the fans, who would have purchased the game when it debuted, have to endure 15 days of an inferior product? Why should the casual gamers, who did not drive pre-orders and the development, receive the fully working product when they pick up the game a month or two down the line?
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It should be noted that patches are only accessible with an internet connection which a lot of countries outside of the US still struggle to have. I currently reside in Australia and the download speeds here are extremely slow in a substantial amount of locations.
This article will look at how patches and updates have affected games in the past and even an entire console. I will ask are patches viable and if so, when are updates appropriate?
I consider gaming an art form and just like any other piece of art, be it music, film, dancing or paintings, they can be deemed subjective. You may enjoy a genre of music that your friend dislikes or have a favorite movie that others despise. Gaming can also split opinions as I love RPG’s whereas my partner will be adamant that Rayman Legends is the best game available. These points of view are absolutely acceptable yet, when a piece of art is broken, that is objectively unacceptable. If you attend the cinema and watch a movie which you did not like, you may leave underwhelmed but not cheated. If the movie lost audio or focus during the screening, you would not tolerate that and as such, you would complain to the cinema and request your money back. Ignoring the arts, if you bought any product be it a car, blender or back scratcher, if the product did not perform as advertised, it would be your consumer right to return the ‘faulty’ product.
Why then can a ‘broken’ game be released and be accepted? How can a company release an update, which restores the game to how it should have been upon release, say it is “for our fans” and offer no compensation?
The irony of the whole situation is that the early adopters, the ones enduring the poor performance, drive game sales. These are the people who pay their deposits and give the developers and publishers an indication as to how ambitious they can be with their vision. These pioneers are the ones who encourage others to purchase the product and ultimately make the game a financial success.
Patches and updates are a relatively new experience to consoles. 10 years ago we saw the launch of the Xbox 360 and with Microsoft bringing a hard drive to mainstream consoles, it changed the way we experienced finished products. Prior to this, other than on PC, patches did not exist. Games were planted in the consumers hands as finished products and if there were bugs and glitches, they were considered part of the charm. If you watch a speed run on YouTube, chances are they will utilize these glitches to record world record times.
Nintendo was, and still is, renowned for releasing meticulously polished games. There was one famous case in 2010 though which involved a bug within Metroid: Other M rendering the game unplayable. Nintendo’s response was to have the SD card with the saved data mailed to them free of charge and it would be sent back to you with the bug fixed.
Tony’s Hawk Pro Skater 5 is another example of a game which was not ready to be on store shelves. YouTube is filled with amusing videos of players falling through the ground, flying into the air and other hilariously frustrating issues. There were rumors circulating that Activision’s license for the Tony Hawk series was coming to a close and they needed to release the game before that deadline. This concluded with a bug riddled game being shipped which tarnished a legacy which was strongly attached to my childhood. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 released with a day one patch which was larger than the entire game! There was 4.6GB of data on the disk and the patch was 7.7GB! Let me remind you that this patch is ‘optional’ and unobtainable by many. Could this be seen as deceitful?
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Batman Arkham Knight and Afro Samurai 2 were two games which had some serious technical issues and actually offered some form of compensation to disgruntled customers. Batman Arkham Knight was a wonderful experience on consoles but the PC edition left fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. The PC version, which should have offered better visuals than seen on other platforms, had terrible textures, graphical glitches and enough bugs to have WB Games issue a statement saying, “We take these issues very seriously and have therefore decided to suspend future game sales of the PC version while we work to address these issues to satisfy our quality standards“.
Customers who had purchased the game were offered refunds and when the game was eventually patched, players were given free copies of Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Origins and Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate.
Afro Samurai 2: The Revenge of Kuma incidentally was not as defective to the extent of the previous titles mentioned however it was a poor game. I mentioned before how I consider games an art form and that opinions can be subjective. I do not want to contradict myself but when the developers of the game, Verses Evil, state that “The game was a failure“, it is hard to disagree. A significant patch was not made available and Afro Samurai 2 was removed from the store and customers were offered refunds. Afro Samurai 2 was intended to be a serialized piece but the remaining parts were ultimately scrapped.
Now for a few cases where patches were warmly welcomed and the first one is not actually a game…
The Xbox One had a turbulent time when first introduced to eager fans with its controversial ‘always online’ requirement and its policy on playing used games. It did not help the situation when its biggest rival Playstation was pleasing everyone with its slogan “for the players“. The Xbox One actually had some interesting ideas but due to poor communication and clarification, the public demanded that Microsoft hear their pleas and change the philosophy of the console.
Alas, Microsoft performed the ‘Xbox 180’ and gave fans what they wanted. The console would have an offline mode and pre-owned games can be passed around as easily as trading cards. The only catch would be that the hardware within the Xbox One was stuck in its stubborn ways and a mandatory update is required to enlighten the ‘doorstop’ as it was referred to. This time the fans did win but so did Microsoft as the opinion of the company drastically improved. Microsoft released a patch to please consumers prior to the products release, not to fix a product they had already purchased… Which leads into the next title.
Mass Effect 3 is one of my favorite games of all time and concluded my 5 year relationship with the trilogy. The Mass Effect series was unique in the fact that all of your actions and choices would have consequences throughout the entire saga. You played as Commander Sheppard over the course of three games but my Sheppard should have been very different to yours. When Mass Effect 3 concluded I was frustrated. The ending could have been attained by anyone as you are given three significant choices at the finale which determine the fate of the galaxy. Sure, I had experienced different scenarios to other players but having a unrelated climax to my story left me feeling deflated. I accepted this ending but others were not so content. Public outcry pressured Bioware into releasing the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC which contained additional scenes incorporating previous decisions made over the course of the trilogy. The patch pleased some but not all yet it is another great example of how a patch can improve an already stellar experience.
The last game of mention where patches have had a huge overhaul of the game is Destiny. Destiny is different as it is essentially an MMO and patches are a common experience in such a game. However, Bungie did release a very significant patch called Destiny: Year One which introduced major changes that users had been wishing for. The leveling and loot system had been completely revamped and the game was far better because of it.
These are some examples of when updates have improved the game. The key word here is ‘improved’ as what these games and console delivered upon first release was an acceptable product. I return to the disbelief I have towards the Just Cause 3 update which was “for our fans“. I happened to be a fan and I felt no sense of gratitude. I paid the deposit, I encouraged others to purchase the game and what was my reward? A patch released 15 days after I parted with my hard earned cash to restore the game to the standard it should have been upon launch.
I understand that creating a game is hard work and I applaud everyone who takes on the mammoth task. I also understand that publishers issue deadlines and that can be a particularly strenuous time within development. However I cannot understand why you would compromise your vision and hard work by releasing a game which does not encapsulate that. Please do not think of updates as a safety net because as soon as you do, you become less vigilant. We see this in all strands of life where luxury affords us to be less pedantic yet when the comfort is taken away from us, we begin to drown due to our reliance on them.
Simply put, I do not want to see day one patches. I want to return to the day when I can buy a game, play it and experience the developers vision the way they wanted me to.
