A day after releasing The Callisto Protocol to mixed reviews, developer Striking Distance Studios is releasing a patch to fix the PC version’s stuttering issues. The studio promised that the fix would “improve performance”, adding that “a few additional updates” were on the way.
Since its release, PC gamers have taken to YouTube, Reddit, and other online forums to complain about Callisto protocol performance issues. On Steam, the game currently has a “mixed” rating after nearly 10,000 player reviews, with the majority of negative posts complaining about the game’s technical shortcomings.
Digital Foundry details the issues in their recent video about the game. According to the outlet, The Callisto Protocol does not precompile its shaders. This is a big no-no for an Unreal Engine 4 game on PC. Almost every time the Callisto protocol introduces new assets or shows something for the first time, players can expect massive stuttering, with a worse effect on computers with older, less powerful CPUs.
It’s hard to say how well the first patch fixes the shadow build issue. Some Twitter users are reporting a “huge” difference, but keep in mind that the problem isn’t completely fixed. If you watch the few YouTube videos documenting how the update affects performance, you can still see a lot of micro stuttering. If you want to play The Callisto Protocol on PC, I’d say your best bet is to wait before buying the game.
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