It's almost like Rock Steady knew I'd launched my site this week and wanted to give me something nice and meaty to write about. This week Batman Arkham Knight launched on PS4, XBOX One and PC: initial reviews and user scores looked great. However very quickly news spread across the internet and game forums that the PC version was suffering some fairly major problems from stuttering, missing graphical features and just a very poor performing port. a few days later and we now have a far clearer picture of what has lead to the PC version of AK arriving in such a broken state.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Warner Bros (and Rock Steady) have really buggered this up for PC gamers and their excellent reputation has taken a beating. The console versions of AK both look great and the PS4 version especially run beautifully: so what went so wrong with the PC port?

The major problem seems to be that the PC version was given to a company outside Rock Steady, a company called Iron Galaxy Studios. Now I'll be honest, I just assumed Rock Steady would be running the whole show but after looking into this side of game development this practice seems common. Ok so here's the thing, if the people who did the port had done their job nobody would give two hoots and we'd all be bombing around Gotham right now like caffeinated cosplayers. For me personally it's such a huge kick in the bollocks because I've loved this IP from the word go. Batman Arkham Asylum redefined how game developers look at close combat in action games, it was the best Batman game ever made and gave such a massive nod to the origins of Batman. To spite the games that have followed getting various criticisms I've enjoyed them all and I was very much looking forward to the set being complete. This is why it matters so much, because I like so many others I love the work Rock Steady has done with Batman and what a way to let us down: on the very last game we are left with a broken mess and the reason? Well here we enter the realms of speculation and so the short answer is we don't really know.

So now we know a bit more is it any real surprise that a company so small and who seem to be experienced with console ports have done such a dismal job? Well not really. The big question that jumps out at me is this: didn't anyone from Rock Steady check the port? 'Ok guys lets see how you did with one of our studios most beloved series...' did that conversation ever happen? If it did you have to ask yourself how did Rock Steady ever hope to pass the PC version off as a viable game?

For those who don't know Steam users can get a refund for their copies of AK and other digital distribution sites are falling into line. In addition, Warner Bros have now suspended digital sales of the game until they can get it working as intended. This is a major move and must be costing them heavily but given the almost universal condemnation from PC gamers it's a step in the right direction. I read a great article this morning on Kotaku UK saying yes, PC games don't want to have their version delayed but if it needs must then please developers; if a game is not ready then do what you need to do. 

One of the core drives for my website is making this exact issue a thing of the past: in that the PC as a gaming platform too often is the last priority for developers, whether this be due to exclusive deals or just the idea that consoles are where the money is. Developers and publishers need to wake up and realise, if you look after the PC gamers out there and make an exceptional game you could make more money than the XBOX and PS4 combined. 

After the Witcher 3 my next review for the site was going to be AK, as it happens my PC is getting a reboot over the weekend so reviewing games will have to wait until Sunday. Do we think a mega patch will have sorted things out by then? We have already seen a massive surge in activity from all companies involved, even Nvidia have offered help with their team to get the PC version running: I know it does benefit Nvidia but I still love they did this. As I type the first patch has landed with fixes for a few minor problems, with more promised soon. As usual PC gamers have been met themselves with criticism from some console gamers over the weekend for kicking up a fuss about AK, 'PC Master Race' and such. I would say to these gamers, hey why don't we drop the barriers and boundaries: we are all gamers and when we work together we can change things forcing misguided developers/publishers to change the way they think. Look at what Bungie tried to pull with Destiny over the same weekend, it's the same thing and we as gamers need to make our voice heard. How do we do that? With our wallets and not preordering games! (unless there's a pipboy involved!)

I'd love to hear your views, experiences and opinions in the comments below. 

Peace out,
Genophix