The Witcher 3’s Performance Issues and How CD Projekt Red Pulled a Ubisoft But Remain Respected

CraveOnline: "The Witcher 3’s launch shared similarities with that of Assassin’s Creed: Unity’s, but the way it was treated by both the public and press was vastly different. So what gives?"

[ThatEnglishDude]

What a terrible article. Ubisoft are absolutely shit developers whereas CDPR went above and beyond to create an absolutely living breathing world brimming with things to do. It's rich story and RPG mechanics blow away most other games within the genre and by far and large, is an absolute joy to play - REGARDLESS of platform. The attention to detail and pure love that went into this game shows in the games quality, bugs and all. Every game of theirs is truly a passion project, which again, reflects in the final product.

Why do Ubisoft get shit? Because this is an annual occurrence with them. This happens every time. And no, the issues weren't rectified quickly. The PC version is still a shambles, with patches upon patches that fix some issues, while introducing new ones. Assassin's Creed: Unity is a mess of a game. A game that isn't all that good when it IS working. The Witcher 3 is an excellent triumph of a game that yes, has some issues, but given the choice of CDPR or Ubisoft - I put my money on CDPR fixing issues and giving their customers the game they deserve any day of the goddamn week. The issues people are experiencing with The Witcher 3 are FAR FAR fewer and far between compared to the dog tripe that is Assassin's Creed: Unity. That game was just about unplayable for quite a while after release. The Witcher 3 has been out for 1 week and has already had 3 patches released for the PC version. You may argue that that's a LOT of patches for one week, and yes - it is, but I appreciate they're doing all they can and clearly working around the clock in order to get this game as good as it was intended to be. Consoles will always be harder to patch due to requiring certification from Sony or Microsoft.

Bottom line, don't even compare the two games. There's a very good reason The Witcher 3 is getting the reception it is. CDPR are a wonderful developer studio that seems to genuinely give a shit. That's something to be commended, yes. How you can even compare them to Ubisoft is stunning.

[Paytaa]

Took the words right out of my mouth. CDPR is just one of the best devs in the business. Can't say the same about Ubishit.

[Wii_nes_007]

More like Screwbisoft lol

[linkenski]

A lot of the disrespect towards Ubi comes from the fact that they milk the shit out of their franchises and they have too many cooks in the kitchen.

Unity feels kind of alive but Witcher 3 does this a lot better by giving NPCs unique tasks and using the NPCs to set up the world and lore in a really deep way. The amount of random events that can happen in the biggest city left a mark on me, and it just feels like one of the most alive worlds ever... and 200 people made this game, as opposed to 900 at Ubi.

Also, this is actually an RPG and not an action/adventure sandbox like AC so I can live with it not being stable 30fps all the time.

[nX]

The Witcher 3 is actually a better game than anything Ubisoft has ever released on any platform. You shouldn't even mention these two developers in one sentence, it's not a fair comparison.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Yeah, and they've already either fixed or are working on fixing a bunch of the stuff that was wrong with the game.

I still can't get 100% onboard with the assessment that they should be completely absolved of liability because at the end of the day, they DID release a pretty broken product.

The difference is they are MUCH more transparent about it and seem much more willing to resolve the issues in a timely manner. So I still respect them for that.

[CowbopBeboy]

This article isn't saying the two studios are alike - rather, it's saying that they're completely different, and that is why people were more forgiving of The Witcher 3's launch when compared with AC: Unity's.

I think a lot of people are thinking this is an article slamming CD Projekt Red due to its title, when it clearly isn't at all.

[Omnisonne]

I think thats the problem, The Witcher 3 shouldnt be compared to AC Unity either.

TW3 is vastly more complex in quests, choises and gameplay mechanics (being an RPG) bugs or glitches are almost inevitable in a game that size. Also, TW3 got delayed several times to allow for polishing and ironing out issues.
Not to mention the prolonged support, where AC Unity begs for additional micro payments.

AC Unity is nowhere near as large in content and scale, and Ubi didnt bother delaying it for a better and smoother game despite being aware of its flaws.

There's a huge difference between the two, and the circumstances of both devs.

Its a bad article prying negative points of an amazing game

[Edit] Its a matter of respect as well, something Ubisoft lost some time ago. Should CDPR mess up multiple times a year, you can expect them to end up in the same light

[hades07]

The Witcher 3 shared very little to AC Unity's launch. Yes both had glitches, but what games dont lately. As its been stated here the amount of depth and diversity in the Witcher 3 far outclasses any Ubisoft game.

I enjoy their games (Far Cry 3 is one of my all time fav games) but most games by big publishers are rushed right from the start. Both Unity and Far Cry 4 have the same missions over and over, every Witcher 3 quest has so much depth to it, its unreal.

[showtimefolks]

ok please are we rwally comparing one of the best developers in the world to the onr of the mist greedy and outright dirty/lying publishees?

Oh this is watch dogs next gen than down grade

Oh here is next gen unity oh wait it's not finished

Let's fire the guy who gave us the idea and developed AC franchise. But than re buy his team in thq sale and give his project a green light only to fire him again

Let's milk the heck out of all our games

Shame on you ubi. You are the new EA. And bigger shame on fans of ubi who are the reason ubi became greedy. Stop defending these multi billion dollar companies

They don't care about us, they only care about the bottom line

[Lamboomington]

Don't understand how anyone can compare this to Unity.

If they downgraded the PC version for parity, CDPR needs to get flak for that, and they already have. but that is as far as the comparison to Ubisoft goes.
Maybe Watchdogs, that's it. A graphical downgrade at most.

Comparing the game to Unity and CDPR to Ubisoft in general ? That's just retarded. When on earth was the game every even remotely close to the broken mess that Unity was ? Launch issues ? Bugs ? Yes, many people have had bugs, but is it even close ? Nope.
Season passes and DLC for an unreleased game ? So what ? These DLC are full blown EXPANSIONS. Not that hard to understand. It's not like the entire 200 people are going to work on patches for the game either. Once the game is gold, ofcourse people work on other stuff.

When was CDPR even close to being Ubisoft ? It's kind of disrespectful to accuse them of all that. Ubisoft had all this coming. They are a company which rushes out games on a yearly basis, ruining many of their games that way. Then we have Uplay and the always online fiasco a few years back. Then the massive Watchdogs downgrades, with working options disabled on the PC version. Then Unity, which was clearly, clearly rushed. Microtransactions too, you name it. Ubisoft are a very capable studio. Look at Far Cry 3. Look at the PC port too. It was all brilliant. It's sad that some of their other franchises have to suffer because of bad practices.

CDPR spend years and years making this game, delaying and polishing it, giving us free content post launch. No microtransactions. No DRM for PC. How are they even close to Ubisoft ?

Any comparison of CDPR to Ubisoft can go only as Watchdogs, on the PC version. THATS IT.

Anything else is just plain ignorant.

[Wii_nes_007]

I played TW3 at launch night for a half an hour and had enough on my PS4. I refuse to play it, and haven't since, until they fix it. I can't be the only one in the world that noticed this game ending lag on the PS4 version. IMO its very similar to Unitys launch. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[linkenski]

To be honest I think they downgraded the PC versions because all 3 versions had to share a lot of the same code, so they couldn't make the PC have the same assets as in their target render while running with the downgraded stuff on PS4 and XB1. It would be like making 2 different products at some point. We have to remember that a all versions are just ports. In a sense you could call it parity, but it's not that the PC version was deliberately made to look worse because they wanted PS4 to look better. Why then, can we still make the PC version run with superior view distances and hair-rendering?

[dancerOfDeath]

"Ubisoft are absolutely shit developers..."

Ubisoft is a publisher under which exist a huge number of studios.... some of which are incredibly talented.

Sure, some UBI devs have made a few missteps and some terrible games, but this unchecked hatred towards them by a particular portion of the gaming community is so melodramatic.

UBISOFT isn't some evil soul sucking blob. Some of the dev teams there genuinely care and are great developers. Hate to see people lump them all together in these angry little rants.

Tom Clancy titles never disappoint me, and there are several on the way. Airmech Arena is one I'm really enjoying right now. 2 years ago, if I had been asked, I would have said UBI is my favorite pub... and I still have faith they will deliver great games with Rainbow Six, The Division and a new Splinter Cell.

TW3 is incredible, yes.... but lets not pretend for 1 second that Assasins Creed has EVER been good.

[Lamboomington]

Actually very true. Ubisoft has incredible dev teams. It's just that some of their decisions as a publisher have adversely affected so many of their games, which is sad.

Misstep indeed, but many missteps in a row do give you a bad reputation.

And yes, most of it has been centred around Assassins Creed.

[linkenski]

I've heard very good things about AC2 though. I agree AC1 was mediocre though and the rest I simply don't bother with. The moment I saw they made more games after 3 considering all the spinoffs as well I just knew this was another CoD-like franchise that had been robbed of whatever soul it may have had in the past.

[dancerOfDeath]

AC 2 was alright. I couldn't bring myself to finish it (as much as I enjoyed it for a short while), which leads me to think it isn't as good as some ppl would have you believe. Though of course that's up to opinion. I think AC games are generally just substandard, and people are now beginning to realize it. A buggy launch doesn't help.

[Helios86]

The performance in Witcher 3 is a bitch sometimes yes, but the bugs (atleast the once I've encountered) are easily fixed by reloading a previous save and they are far between.
Considering the amount of stuff they have in Witcher 3 it's really mind blowing. The game is massive and fully playable and enjoyable, the same can't be said about Unity or any ubisoft game for that matter.

Also, Witcher 3 is probably the first open world game where I've truly enjoyed every second of the game, no dull meaningless time sinks or anything, it's damned near perfect.

[SilverClock]

Thank you for taking the time to type all that out. I didn't even give that site a click.

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

Bubble up for you, English dude. Very, VERY, well said.

[wraith4912]

^agreed.

[wsoutlaw87]

I have seen minimal issues on the ps4 nothing that really affected the game for me. AC was close to broken. They are also very different games. Cd also has a much better history of being honest and fixing things where ubi is the opposite.

[dantesparda]

The game runs almost as bad on the PS4 as Unity did at first in comparison to the X1 version. Unity on X1 had like a 5-10 frame per second advantage in many areas, whereas Witcher 3 does the same thing. The only difference is Witcher isn't drop as low as often as Untiy did. But its performance is almost just as bad with frames dropping. And why are we so quick to accept sub 30fps in this day and age? 30fps should be the absolute rock bottom we accept, with no frame pacing. Yet W3 does both, fall below 30fps (often!) and have frame pacing issues.

This fanboyism of companies and systems is screwing us over. Demand better not defend them just cuz you sweat them. Also, look at Bloodborne, the game has horrible frame pacing issues and Sony claimed they where going to fix the performance. But since then nobody has said anything about it since then, now it seems like its all but forgotten, the last update didn't fix it. So instead of a smooth 30fps game we get a choppy 30fps/sub 30fps game. Keep being fanboys and you'll keep getting subpar sh't.

[Eyesoftheraven]

The biggest issue I can see here is that you (The EnglishDude) have only one bubble. 0_o

[ArchangelMike]

CDPR did not deliberately rush their game to market just so that they could start with the next annual installment.

CDPR put tons and tons and tons of meaningful content into their game.

CDPR have been open about the various issues that have been raised regarding this game.

CDPR developed a much higher quality game all round (even counting bugs an all)

[Grap]

What an idiotic article.

[Jivesh]

Pull a Ubisoft...wow.

[mezati99]

Shit article.

[spicelicka]

lol I think the thumbnail pic sums it up perfectly. Not a good comparison at all.

[WellyUK]

Face = Palm.

Yes the Witcher has bugs but no where near as many as Unity, yes Witcher has frame drops but Unity doesnt barely runs above 20 FPS 99% of the time you play it. Then they go and say they "Fixed" it when the game still ran like complete crap. Unity in general has horrendous gameplay and is the worst of the AC games by miles. The Witcher with it's bugs and minor issues is still thousand times better than Unity could ever be and CDPR are already spamming out patches and fixes for things, the only problem is Sony and MS have to certify them which is dumb IMO, let the devs do updates when they damn well want/need to.

[wsoutlaw87]

Honestly I didn't notice too many bugs. Acu had a awful frame rate and felt broken and I didn't even play it until a few weeks after launch. Comparing them is stupid.

[Palitera]

When it comes from certain companies, it is totally acceptable and justified.
When it comes from some others, absolutely outrageous.

And the wheel of lies and deception go round and round, stronger and stronger, with full support from players in zealot mode.

[SoulMikeY]

Except Witcher was never unplayable since release.... It's not lies. Every real gamer knows to expect a few problems with games now days. They are millions of times larger, and take many more people to create them in present day. People get stuck on, "well this dumb, boring, simple-minded 2D game doesn't have glitches... hurr durr".

I'd rather take a game like witcher, with a few bugs, than these recycled 2D mindless indie games.

[kbozz71]

It doesn't take a genius to look at the patterns/practices of some companies vs others does it?

[TheHaloGuy]

It's cause the game is still gorgeous and the game itself is magnificent and jam packed full of interesting and intriguing contenet. What more could we ask for, really?

[BallsEye]

What performance issues? Runs perfectly on XBOX ONE in 35-40 fps during combat (and 60 char screen)

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[knifefight]

I don't think these two things were on the same scale....

[aquaticDonut]

I'm sorry, was the game I was playing not the witcher 3? I'm pretty sure it actually worked on PC, didnt have frame drops to 9FPS on console and wasn't buggy to all hell, so I fail to see the similarities between it and assassin's creed unity.

[Khronikos]

Gaming Journalism: Trying to be relevant when there is nothing to write about.

[Wii_nes_007]

I played TW3 at launch night for a half an hour and had enough. Its lag on the PS4 version was awful and unplayable. Its no Unity, but dang close. I refuse to play it until they fix it. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[TheDetective]

sorry dude i have the one on the ps4, beat the whole story mode and i am now working on side stuff, have not once seen what your talking about. there have been some NPCs that have not loaded or would stop moving when they are leading you to the next point in a Quest. there is also a weird cross fade sometimes where the screen will kinda fade out for a bit. the loading times are a bit long and i wish you could store stuff on your horse. during a dialogue scene i had one guy kinda glitch out, all and all nothing to major

[kraenk12]

You are clearly talking out of your a**. The game is perfectly fine minus some minor glitches. You simply didn't even get into the game if you only played the prologue. I actually don't believe you even played the game.

[skulz7]

After 30 hours of play I have only suffered from around 5 bugs. With ac unity that figure was almost trippled. What a shit article.

[theXtReMe1]

Yeah, the difference is UBisoft releases games that are not finished. Projekt Red released a finished game with some bugs. Which happens with almost every game ever released. I can remember as far back as the Xbox and having issues with UBisoft games. Save files corrupted or deleted after dozens of hours of gameplay, commercials portraying in game visuals that never come to fruition, game breaking bugs and glitches that testers couldnt have never missed if they did their job correctly.

Just a long line of lies and deceit. Putting money before consumer satisfaction. It doesn't stop millions of people from buying their games, which is 99% of the issue. If games are still selling hand over fist, why change their ways? Cost themselves unnecessary time and money? While developers like Projekt Red man up and admit the issues and fix them ASAP. On top of that, giving gamers reasons to continue enjoying their games by supporting their titles with DLC months and years after release.

The only thing this article does, is point out the difference between a great company with consumer friendly practices... and one with only their best interests(being financial) in mind.

[TheDetective]

^ lol i prefer Yen,but on to the topic at hand. this game is fucking amazing, hell all of novigrad just might be bigger then Most of the AC games. the level of detail that is on hand here with how everyone's face looks and such and just the sheer size of it all you would think no one would even have a face. this thing is like 4 AC unity's in one and i have had no where near the amount of crap that was in unity.

the story and everything about witcher 3 puts unity to shame

[RonsonPL]

A month ago, CDPR was the MOST loved and respected developer studio in the world, while Ubisoft was and remains the worst.
That's a fact.

Now, because of some deals with Microsoft (my guess) CDPR turned out not to be 100% pure and good studio. It turned out CDPR is not as awesome as we (really) wanted to believe.
They lied:
- They could say there is a difference between what they showed and how the final version looks like, instead they lied they're getting the baclash totally undeserved.
- they lied when they said the game is ready about 10 month ago and "now it's just bug fixing". The amount of bugs and glithes, the patches, determines that was a lie. Even if it wasn't, THAT was the time they should inform about the downgrade showing comparisons screens themselves. If they were as good as they wanted us to believe they are, they HAD to do it, but they didn't
- "there was no downgrade" and their stupid explanations like that one about limited draw distance requiring tons of cash, when they could do it in a day, for a 1% of the price they paid for a big W3 advertisement on Time's Square:
http://www.tmag.it/wp-conte...
The streaming would be different? So what? Just allow PC players to use their 16GB RAM machines or increase the download size of the game. Was that that hard? No. Did CDPR lied about it treating us like idiots lacking any knowledge about games and game dev? They DID.
- "we create game for PCs, without being bound by the limits of the low performance of the consoles". It was also a lie. My guess is that their deal with Microsoft resulted in this. I know for a fact (from my friend I know since 1990, who never lied to me, and who now works at some of the biggest dev studios, but I cannot say which one), that Microsoft in fact pushes the devs for "parity". They don't want any PC game to show how much outdated their Xone console is. And CDPR is deep in love with MS recently.

CDPRed had somehting no other studio had - MILLIONS of fans who not only respect them but love them, are and planned to stay loyal.

I am from Poland. I loved CDPR. My friend bought 2 copies of W3 just to show how gamers want to be treated, and how much we appreciate studios which respect us, not like Ubisoft. He cancelled his pre-order for the second copy.
CDPR lost MUCH more on this unhonest case with downgrading PC version and false advertising. CDPR lost their priceless image. They were stupid to do so, they lost much more than they possibly gained from the deal with MS.
I'm hugely disappointed with them. :( And I feel sorry for all of us, because it shows the direction gaming business goes. Big money comes = shady practices appear, and consumers loose.

Now I only respect them and treat them as any other good developer. There's long, long way to the Ubisoft position from that. But I no more treat them as friends, saviors of consumer respect and treating PC gamers like they deserve to be treated.

Looking at this, I hope Frozenbyte never gets tons of money, so they'll forever stay the same. Because after what CDPR did, they're moving up and taking "1st place" on my "good guys" list.

[feedphil]

bro chill out it's going to be ok.