New patch fixes widespread stuttering caused by "rushed" shader compilation update.
Enlarge / Artist's conception of PC players getting hit with stuttering frame rates on the launch version of The Callisto Protocol.
In Ars' review of The Callisto Protocol last week, our reviewer praised the 60 fps graphics of the game's Performance mode on the tested PlayStation 5 version. Since the game's release, though, online forums like Reddit and the game's Steam reviews have seen widespread complaints of stuttering frame rates and other poor performance on the PC version.
The developers at Striking Distance Studios acknowledged those stuttering problems for "some" PC users Friday afternoon. Later that night, the team released a PC patch "to improve gameplay stuttering issues due to shader compilation." Testing on the Ars gaming rig (currently sporting an Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Ti) suggests that the patch was successful and that the latest version of the game can achieve smooth frame rates above 60 frames per second, even on "Ultra" graphics settings.
In a post on his personal Twitter account, Striking Distance founder and CEO Glen Schofield attributed those widespread stuttering problems to the wrong file being patched for the launch version of the game, a "freaking error by someone rushing." In a separate tweet, he referred to the problem as a "damn clerical error."
