As a fan of PC gaming, I can’t help but feel a bit upset when it comes to certain games. We often get the short end of the stick, usually more than we’d like. What’s got me frustrated this time around surrounds the release of 2K’s upcoming Mafia III. It’s already common knowledge that 2K Games did not send out any review copies of the game, which didn’t sit well with many gamers and reviewers. This led to many gamers speculating that perhaps Mafia III simply wasn’t ready to be reviewed or that 2K Games didn’t have much faith in the title. Though, other games such as DOOM (2016) have been in the same situation and ended up being perhaps the best First Person Shooter of 2016. So, it’s not really fair to judge the game just yet.
However, what I can judge is the fact that Mafia III is launching on the PC at a locked 30 FPS. I can only imagine that this is due to a little thing called “Graphics Parity.” If you don’t know what that is, look it up. Sadly, this has been a sore subject for many games, not just for PC games, but it also an issue when companies worked on Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. A little game called Watch Dogs was guilty of this. This has been backed up and confirmed by multiple sources, such as PC Gamer and Total Biscuit, which prompted 2K Games to release a short “Damage Control” piece.
I have had confirmation from 2K that the current builds of Mafia 3 are locked to 30fps on PC. They claim improvements "soon" and statement.
— TotalBiscuit (@Totalbiscuit) October 6, 2016
We know how important having options that best suit your PC’s performance capabilities are. The team has been hard at work ensuring that Mafia III’s performance is consistent across all platforms, and right now the game runs at a solid 30 frames-per-second. We are currently working on an update for PC that will give players the option to play Mafia III at higher framerates. We’ll share more details about the update, and when you can expect it to arrive, very soon. In the meantime, the team welcomes feedback and would like to hear from you about what performance adjustment options are important to you. We’re actively considering a number of additional post-launch improvements on PC that would give players more control over how they can tailor the game’s experience to suit their rig’s performance. It’s been an incredible journey developing Mafia III and we couldn’t be more excited to get the game in your hands and hear what you think!
How, in this day and age, does an AAA title get released at just 30 FPS, especially on the PC? It kind of makes you wonder what else is wrong with Mafia III on the PC. We’ve already had several AAA titles that ended up with poor optimization that ultimately made the game run badly. In the case of Mafia III, it just feels like poor planning on 2K Games and Hanger 13’s part. I really hate to see things like this happen and it makes not only myself but the entirety of the PC gaming community wonder what exactly was going on in the minds of both 2k Games and Hanger 13. I know many people may think I’m overreacting, but I’m legitly saddened on they think that by saying a patch is coming that everything would be forgiven. This is not acceptable at any level, and this sort of practice should be a thing of the past. Part of me wonders if this game is even going to do well, especially after looking at the feedback over at Steam.
I know there’s going to be that person that begs to ask why exactly is the PC community upset over these type of things. Simply put, our preferred platform of choice simply doesn’t get as much attention or love compared to console versions. In most games, the PC version is merely a port, offering no difference from the console versions to justify getting it for the PC. The hardware is barely being taken advantage of and usually ends up with poor performance in one form or another. The sad realization is that many gamers that prefer consoles over PC, which is their right, don’t have to experience the level of frustration that we do. We expect that when we pick up a copy of a game that we’re in for the same experience as they are; for our hardware to push the game and provide an optimal experience. In this case, Mafia III isn’t doing that in the eyes of many PC gamers. Let me put it out there that if the 30 fps locked was an option and not a limit, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It isn’t, but it should be.
At least for now, we’re going to reserve judgement until we get our hands on the finished version of Mafia III. And when I say finished, I mean patched and running at an acceptable frame rate. Meaning that The Outerhaven will not be reviewing Mafia III until that patch is released, whenever that is.
