Skip to main content

Long read: How TikTok's most intriguing geolocator makes a story out of a game

Where in the world is Josemonkey?

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition criticised by players for poor performance

UPDATE: A patch is in the works for next week.

UPDATE 4.00pm UK: Private Division is working on a patch for PC and consoles to address performance issues, due out next week.

A statement made on Twitter reads: "Our team is working on a patch for PC and consoles to address many of the visual and performance issues being reported by players. We appreciate your patience greatly and will be able to share this and the full list of patch notes with you before the end of next week."


ORIGINAL STORY 12.00pm UK: The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition is off to a bad start, with players across PC and console experiencing poor performance.

This edition of the game launched earlier this week for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, bringing improved visuals and all DLC.

However, over on Steam the game has a Very Negative rating as players vent their frustration.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition – Official TrailerWatch on YouTube

"Spacer's Choice Edition is such an appropriate name. How ironic that the game making fun of huge capitalist companies that scam people pulls a scam of their own," reads one comment, claiming the game "manages to run worse than Cyberpunk with everything turned on".

"It's not the best choice, it's the Spacer's Choice! Couldn't have said it more perfect.....you've tried the best now try the rest. This is the perfect example of corpo greed ironically from a game about corpo greed," reads another.

The key complaint is of poor frame rates, even with high-end graphics cards.

Over on reddit, user JBamby01 said: "I truly just don't understand how all these companies can keep getting away with shit like this", stating their RTX 3070 is unable to run the game smoothly.

The Outer Worlds subreddit is inundated with claims of poor performance, which is affecting console players as well as PC players.

"I guess they really weren't joking when the trailer for the Spacer's Choice edition said they 'spent their entire budget' on a licensed song," reads one post.

One poster has shared a response from Private Division Support, stating the issue has been raised to the team and will hopefully be fixed in a patch.

Moreover, the original version of the game is available on Game Pass, whereas the Spacer's Choice Edition is only available when bought separately, meaning players expect more from their money.

This version has been outsourced to Virtuos by Private Division.

Eurogamer has requested comment on a future patch. Digital Foundry has also confirmed variations in frame rate (see images below from PS5), so expect detailed coverage in the very near future.

The Outer Worlds on PS5 frame rate drops from Digital Foundry
The Outer Worlds on PS5 frame rate drops from Digital Foundry

Read this next