After more than a week of glitchy gameplay and online outages, it seems next-gen shooter Outriders may finally be on the path to working. Cross-platform functions were disabled after a bevy of multiplayer glitches were found following launch. Thankfully, cross-platform play has now been restored after five days without service, hopefully bridging the gap between PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC. Publisher Square Enix will now be hoping this is the start of the game’s road to redemption.
Cross-platform gameplay was removed last week as a way of stabilizing Outriders’ servers. After launch, matchmaking failed to work and other glitches prevented some players from even loading into the game. Developers People Can Fly reintroduced cross-platform in an update on Friday April 9, although only today (April 12) does it appear to be functioning as expected. Whether this will prove to be a permanent fix to these issues is yet to be seen, but with gameplay now seeming to work, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
This good news come after almost two weeks of constant problems for Outriders, with a launch marred by glitches and game-breaking crashes. Only yesterday did one PC player find 23 gigabytes worth of Outriders crash data on their system. This provided proof not only of the scale of the game’s launch issues, but the impact it’s having on players. Yet this doesn’t even scratch the surface of Outriders’ issues: Players have reported loading screens permanently stuck on 80%, inventories being completely wiped with no way of getting them back, and accounts not even signing in.
Square Enix and People Can Fly seem acutely aware of the scale of the problems, however, and plans are in place to adequately compensate players for the patchy launch of Outriders. A Community Appreciation Package has been promised for all players affected by the launch glitches, containing a free Legendary Weapon, Titanium, and an exclusive emote. While this may not be enough to bring back some players, the promise of a post-mortem investigation into what went wrong may ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.
