Home Gaming Arkham Knight’s PC port was outsourced

Arkham Knight’s PC port was outsourced

3 min read
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batmananana

PC gamers have a right to be a little furious. Most of them pay for their games, just like everybody else, and are increasingly stuck with shoddy ports of things. The PC versions of many games are being farmed off to studios that just don’t have the experience, passion or technical savvy to port things properly.

It’s something we saw with Mortal Kombat X. The console versions, made by NetherRealm themselves are mostly fine – while the PC version, developed by outsourced porting studio High Voltage, was a mess that needed to be completely patched to fix.

The same seems to be true of Batman: Arkham Knight. We already know that many PC gamers from both sides of the red/green divide have been having issues with the game, reporting that it suffers from performance issues, visual glitches and game-breaking bugs.

Rocksteady is aware of the issue, saying that it’s working with the studio that did the port to fix things.

“We’re aware that some users are reporting performance issues with the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. This is something that Rocksteady takes very seriously. We are working closely with our external PC development partner to make sure these issues get resolved as quickly as possible.”

That studio? No, it’s not High Voltage, but rather another studio that seems to make a living from porting things: Iron Galaxy. They’re responsible for, among other things, the console ports of Borderlnds: The Handsome Collection (which as you should know, was a bit of a buggy mess when it was released), ports of Capcom games like Street Fighter III and Marvel vs Capcom and the PC version of Arkham Origins, which had its fair share of issues too. Don’t be too hard on them, they also did the excellent second season of Killer Instinct.

According to Reddit, the studio only seems to have had 12 core staff working on the PC port. Of course, that paints half a picture, and likely doesn’t list the temporary workers brought in to make the PC version a reality.

nanananana

And while it’s incredibly sad that technical issues are overshadowing what may be one of the best game experiences not just of this year, but ever, it’s equally sad that PC gamers are given a second-rate experience, which is something that’s becoming increasingly common. It can always, always be patched later, right? Personally, I think publishers and studios need to be a little more selective in who they use to port their games, and mayhaps put a little bit more effort in to Q&A.

Of course, with it being a PC game, many are reporting that the game works just fine, especially after fiddling with the configuration files to remove the arbitrary frame rate cap. Those people, it seems, are the lucky ones. Thankfully for every bad port, there’s a great one – with Grand Theft Auto V shining bright as an example of how to do a game on PC properly. Of course, it came months after it was released everywhere else.

Are you playing the game on PC? Are you having any performance issues? Because you know what? The game works just fine on consoles.

Last Updated: June 24, 2015

83 Comments

  1. Lord Chaos

    June 24, 2015 at 07:42

    Here’s an idea:
    All games need to be developed for, and on, PC.
    Seeing as the architecture for current consoles are so close to PC, the game can then just be locked to low to mid level graphics and shipped to console.

    Reply

    • konfab

      June 24, 2015 at 07:56

      They do consoles first as they are easier platforms to develop for.

      Reply

      • Lord Chaos

        June 24, 2015 at 08:00

        With the current consoles I cannot see how.
        Some of my friends have systems that are pretty much a duplicate of the consoles. (Same spec)

        Reply

        • kuuu(UMAR)rrrr

          June 24, 2015 at 08:01

          Homogeneous systems are always easier to develop for.

          Reply

        • konfab

          June 24, 2015 at 08:03

          Processing power is irrelevant. To make a game for PS4 work well, you only need it to work on one system.
          Developing for PC means you have to optimize for all the various combinations of Intel, AMD and Nvidia.

          So it is more difficult. That said, the devs should not release a game that is buggy.

          Reply

          • Lord Chaos

            June 24, 2015 at 08:05

            So the game should be able to run on low to mid settings from (any) PC?

      • RustedFaith

        June 24, 2015 at 09:54

        WHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA breath WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

        So explain to mew how the x86 instruction set is easier to program for on console than a PC ? Wow what a good laugh idiots are quite funny …

        Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      June 24, 2015 at 08:03

      I also think that most of the income from games are derived from consoles too. Sad as it is. Even I, as a console gamer would admit to PC’s superiority when it comes to gaming. Alas, the always having to keep up side of it discourages a hell of a lot of people that simply want to game.
      Myself included.

      Reply

      • Lord Chaos

        June 24, 2015 at 08:05

        It’s because of this I changed to waiting for games to be on Steam special. At least then they’d be in a runnable condition. If they want me to pay full price again they’ll have to do something drastic.

        Reply

  2. Blood Emperor Trevor

    June 24, 2015 at 07:45

    Shit ports make my blood BOIL. There is NO good reason for it. You have a perfect WORKING example of how the game should be. And not even that, they release it KNOWING it’s not like that. It’s a giant “FUCK YOU, SUCKERS!” to the people who buy it, because you don’t take any PRIDE in your creation or have any RESPECT for your customers. Gotta meet those quarterly earnings numbers, right? If you’re going to do it right, don’t do it at all. Patch it to a working condition later, after you’ve got the money? No, fuck off.

    Reply

    • Ranting Raptor

      June 24, 2015 at 07:51

      I am Sir Rants and I approve this rant

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief's Adventure

      June 24, 2015 at 07:58

      Glorious rant is glorious

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2015 at 08:04

      Seems you need some consoling…. May I recommend a PS4?

      Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        June 24, 2015 at 08:05

        You could, but then I’d try playing SFIV & it’d start all over again.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          June 24, 2015 at 08:07

          LOL the only bad port to ever launch on a PS4.
          *Sees Planetside 2 is almost done downloading

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief's Adventure

            June 24, 2015 at 08:09

            HOW are you going to snipe?

          • Hammersteyn

            June 24, 2015 at 08:11

            With prayer

          • Lord Chaos

            June 24, 2015 at 08:11

            Like a pure console gamer… Auto-aim
            *Pukes

          • Admiral Chief's Adventure

            June 24, 2015 at 08:15

            Well, the long distance one-shot-kill sniping is not for the nooblets. And that is with KB and MS.

          • Jonah Cash

            June 24, 2015 at 08:31

            Oi, you going to play Planetside 2 on PS4? I might just join you now that Bungie has pissed me off for the last time!!

          • Admiral Chief's Adventure

            June 24, 2015 at 08:36

            Even though you will not get the proper experience, I urge you to play that magnificent game!

          • Jonah Cash

            June 25, 2015 at 07:12

            I have tried when the Beta was available, but I don’t think I would play it too long on my own…

          • Hammersteyn

            June 24, 2015 at 08:47

            LOL what happened?

          • Jonah Cash

            June 25, 2015 at 07:11

            Not a fan of House of Wolves, and I am rebuying the whole thing just to progress in Taken King. Will wait for Taken King to cost about $20-$30 before I get it.

          • Hammersteyn

            June 25, 2015 at 07:44

            Same here, but I’ll take a long hard look before buying Destiny 2

  3. Ranting Raptor

    June 24, 2015 at 07:51

    This makes me mad. Why. Just why. Why can’t you just port it in house during dev? I bet you are paying more for the outsourced porting company than you would for doing it internally with a dedicated team.

    Morons

    Reply

    • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

      June 24, 2015 at 07:55

      Exactly… Doing any form of a port requires the team to analyze the code and then convert it, almost like translating a manuscript… Stupid people making very bad executive decisions…

      Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      June 24, 2015 at 08:04

      Their in-house people are working on the DLC. If it wasn’t a crap port, no one would be complaining about outsourcing. Rocksteady don’t get to avoid responsibility for it by claiming that, similar to the way Gearbox tried with A:CM.

      I watched a really interesting Q&A session with a couple of the Star Citizen producers last night where the question of outsourcing actually came up, and it’s all basically about using your resources effectively & how they also don’t want to employ someone for a short period of time.

      Reply

  4. Greylingad[CNFRMD]

    June 24, 2015 at 07:52

    This doesn’t surprise me at all… It’s disappointing, but not surprising… Having said that, what can we do about it?

    Reply

  5. PoisonedBelial

    June 24, 2015 at 07:55

    They went against everything Batman…

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2015 at 08:03

      Well the bat computer isn’t exactly an I7 know is it?

      Reply

      • Dutch Matrix

        June 24, 2015 at 08:07

        More like a 386 with a Hercules Monochrome monitor!

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          June 24, 2015 at 08:08

          XD

          Reply

      • Captain JJ Browmehn

        June 24, 2015 at 08:32

        Batman can run The Witcher 3 on full on a 386. He’s just that badass.

        Reply

        • Blood Emperor Trevor

          June 24, 2015 at 08:44

          Yes, but only with the lights on & Alfred to hold his hand.

          Reply

          • Captain JJ Browmehn

            June 24, 2015 at 08:53

            Hehe.

  6. kuuu(UMAR)rrrr

    June 24, 2015 at 07:55

    Works fine for me….on my PS4 ^_^

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2015 at 08:03

      Of course it does XD

      Reply

    • onstrike112

      June 24, 2015 at 11:26

      Yup, of course it does, and it’ll look like shit when you put in a game like GTA V next to a PC, which is where games belong.

      Reply

      • kuuu(UMAR)rrrr

        June 24, 2015 at 11:40

        Games belong everywhere ^_^

        Reply

        • onstrike112

          June 25, 2015 at 00:45

          Okay, you go ahead and keep your mid range console, and I’ll play with my graphics up around “high” or “ultra” and get 60 FPS+

          Reply

          • kuuu(UMAR)rrrr

            June 25, 2015 at 07:45

            So much salt…..

  7. Dutch Matrix

    June 24, 2015 at 07:56

    I have to ask PC gamers: Seeing, as Geoff pointed out that GTA V was amazing on PC: Would you not rather wait a few months to get a game that works properly instead of a day one mess of epic proportions?

    Reply

    • PoisonedBelial

      June 24, 2015 at 07:56

      I’d totally wait.
      Saying that, I did not pick up Arkham Knight at launch as I decided to wait for the GOTY edition.

      Really glad I did now.

      Reply

    • kuuu(UMAR)rrrr

      June 24, 2015 at 07:56

      No one should wait. We joke but it’s ridiculous that the console versions works fine but not the PC port.

      Reply

      • Dutch Matrix

        June 24, 2015 at 08:00

        No one should wait. I agree. But it seems the minute a game is left to a third party, it’s a mess. Rockstar clearly had a passion for GTA, hence did the port in house and made sure that what PC gamers got was worthy of their hard earned cash.
        Sure, it might have not been nice for PC gamers, yet I think you are going to be hard pushed to find someone dissing the quality of the game.

        Reply

        • Lord Chaos

          June 24, 2015 at 08:02

          I’d prefer to wait. The perfect example is Blizzard. The game will be released once we are happy with it, even if it means changing release date 3 times.

          Reply

          • Dutch Matrix

            June 24, 2015 at 08:04

            And I can respect it. And to be honest, it’s not like PC gamers got nothing great to play whilst waiting for said port to happen.

    • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

      June 24, 2015 at 08:19

      I would rather wait a little for a more rewarding, hassle free experience than get it now and it doesn’t work anyway…

      Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      June 24, 2015 at 08:22

      I always wait, for this very reason & also because of the inevitable DLC releases. W3 is the only AAA game I’ve preordered in 3/4 years now – and that was mainly because I wanted the CE.

      Reply

    • Jonah Cash

      June 24, 2015 at 08:34

      I haven’t had my PC long, but I have only played Witcher 3 new. In all honesty though, I don’t think what you are proposing is just relevant to PC gamers, but rather all gamers. Most of the last years games on console have also been terrible at the start. I am now buying games when they have been patched once or twice!!

      Reply

      • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

        June 24, 2015 at 08:43

        I only buy games after checking a few tons of reviews, they will always mention if there were bugs, if they don’t well then the review isn’t really worth while… But with the introduction of the new consoles, we’ve hardly ever had a game that worked properly day one, for instance, Shadow Of Mordor won a series of prizes simply because it worked, without having to patch it three or four times… And THAT is shocking, have we grown used to abhorrent ports? or is this something only a few developers actually consider?

        Reply

      • JHN

        June 24, 2015 at 09:00

        Thats all good and well until you get a game and because of those patches it needs a 40gig download before you can play it.

        Reply

  8. Admiral Chief's Adventure

    June 24, 2015 at 07:57

    Of course it was

    Reply

  9. Hammersteyn

    June 24, 2015 at 08:02

    pee see perts!

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief's Adventure

      June 24, 2015 at 08:02

      Hurr durr

      Reply

  10. Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)

    June 24, 2015 at 08:06

    My gods
    Pc gamers being treated as 3rd class citizens again and just thrown the scraps of the gaming world
    Seems like pc gaming is doomed

    Reply

    • konfab

      June 24, 2015 at 08:12

      Doomed to be 6 months behind console at least :3

      Reply

  11. Captain JJ Browmehn

    June 24, 2015 at 08:07

    That “most of them”
    It’s like saying “pc players are sometimes pirates” but in a nicer way ;P

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2015 at 08:08

      Also Rocksteady is like “Some people are experiencing problems” Incidentally those that asked for a refund isn’y anymore

      Reply

      • Lord Chaos

        June 24, 2015 at 08:08

        *aren’t

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          June 24, 2015 at 08:09

          rofl

          Reply

          • Lord Chaos

            June 24, 2015 at 08:10

            Your porting of the English language is bad. When can we expect the 10GB patch? 😛

      • Captain JJ Browmehn

        June 24, 2015 at 08:08

        Haha. They’re the lucky ones.

        Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        June 24, 2015 at 08:11

        Knowing corporate babble they probably called the people who got a refund “satisfied customers”. 😉

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          June 24, 2015 at 08:11

          hahahaha

          Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      June 24, 2015 at 08:08

      Well, aren’t they? LoL. Has PS4 and Xbone been cracked/hacked yet?

      Reply

      • Captain JJ Browmehn

        June 24, 2015 at 08:10

        Not yet. But if you trawl the internet a bit you’ll see quite a few people asking when it’s going to happen.
        So it’s not because the interest isn’t there. It’s just because it’s difficult to do, and most of the people with enough tech knowledge to do so are pc gamers.

        Reply

        • Dutch Matrix

          June 24, 2015 at 08:24

          Oh Touche. Me? I’m too shit scared to hack my PS4, and no, I am not saying I want to Pirate. With my luck, I’ll have it cracked and get back home, switch it on and then have it just go “So you wanted to play? LoL. Watch as I spew forth fire and smoke and die on your ass! Now see about that warranty!”

          Reply

          • Captain JJ Browmehn

            June 24, 2015 at 08:31

            Haha. I have that same luck. I’d pirate a pc game and somehow someone will catch me. I just know it.
            Honestly though, with Steam sales, Humble Bundles and Bundle Stars pc gamers have NO excuse to pirate. I was very sad when someone told me they saw The Witcher 3 on kickasstorrents a day after release. Of course I knew it would happen, but they spent so much effort on that game and it deserves to be bought, paid for and enjoyed.

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            June 24, 2015 at 08:37

            Well…. In a sense, the game was available from scratch without having to be activated and CDPR started off by bootlegging games, don’t get me wrong, I’m not justifying it at all, but they believe in a good game selling itself, if you want to try it before you buy it, then please do so… Almost like buying a car….I wouldn’t purchase a car without test driving it, hence the fact that I don’t preorder, but if I’ve read reviews that consistently praise the game, well…

          • Captain JJ Browmehn

            June 24, 2015 at 08:41

            That is true.
            Luckily they have stuff like Steam refunds for that now if it’s a new game you’re considering. So you can try it out.

            For pre-orders though, it’s always a risk.

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            June 24, 2015 at 08:45

            That’s the thing though isn’t it? You buy a game and then if you don’t like it, just ask for a refund… Instead of creating excellent games then, developers are going to go, “Ag well, he didn’t like it…. Stuff him…”

          • Captain JJ Browmehn

            June 24, 2015 at 08:52

            I agree. There are still many loopholes. At least they’re not getting your money though.
            Both the consumers and the devs are to blame here.

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        June 24, 2015 at 08:24

        Apparently the PS4 has, there was an article about it the other day but don’t remember the details.

        Reply

  12. Captain JJ Browmehn

    June 24, 2015 at 08:13

    So you outsource a game that’s worth millions in revenue to a company that you don’t check out properly to see if they’re actually capable of doing it properly.
    And then it’s the fault of the company who ported it? I don’t think so.

    Reply

  13. Izzy

    June 24, 2015 at 08:36

    Holy crap, I haven’t seen this much blind rage from gamers since the Mass Effect 3 ending! From the looks of it disgruntled PC players’ anger is spilling over into the PS4 and Xbox One sections of Metacritic as well, hitting dem scores pretty hard! I do hope it gets patched soon, though. From what I’ve seen the game is gorgeous, and on PC I can just imagine it being a feast for the eyes, and with 60 FPS it should be all the better!

    Reply

  14. Viking Of Science

    June 24, 2015 at 08:40

    We Deserve Ports that work, We Deserve Unlocked framerates. 60 FPS > 30 FPS. objectively.

    http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0137/6352/products/60fpsposter_1024x1024.jpg?v=1406937705

    Reply

  15. Francois Knoetze

    June 24, 2015 at 08:58

    Pity PC gamers got the bad end of the stick of this. Actually thought the studio did all 3 versions internally not outsource the PC version. Then again they should have done what they did with Arkham City and held it back for a bit then release a proper PC version. Can’t wait to play my copy on my PS4 but first the backlog has to be delt with.

    Reply

  16. oVg "I hate Portals" - Geralt

    June 24, 2015 at 09:03

    Give it to CD Projekt Red. They will do it inhouse and for free 😉

    Reply

  17. eXpZA

    June 24, 2015 at 09:39

    Good time for Steam Refunds to exist. Vote with your wallet.

    Reply

  18. Zander Boshoff

    June 24, 2015 at 09:49

    This is what happens when you spend more time on stupid dlc.

    Reply

    • RustedFaith

      June 24, 2015 at 09:53

      Im glad I didnt touch this, they lost me as a customer when they publicly announced that they wont wont fix any more Batman Arkham Origins bugs because they are focussing on DLC’s.

      That was a clear indication of where their priorities lies …. to anyone that purchased it “suckers” 🙂

      Reply

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