XCOM 2 Hotfix Patch Released, Large Fixes “Coming Soon”

Last week, Firaxis released the first hotfix patch for XCOM 2, in response to various performance and bug-related problems players have been reporting since the game’s release. The patch isn’t particularly substantial, but it’s a first step. Here’s the full changelog:

XCOM 2 Patch Notes

• Player is unable to progress to scan in the Geoscape after completing the Resistance Communications research via Tutorial This will fix previously affected saves.
• Unable to load saves with a Chryssalid Cocoon This will fix the issue, and for previously affected saves.
• Adjustments were made to Texture Streaming to assist with periodic frame spikes.
• Using the preview voice button for a modded voice pack will no longer crash the game when in the armory.
• Removed 8x MSAA from default Max settings.

The folks at Rock, Paper, Shotgun quizzed the game’s creative director, Jake Solomon, about the title’s launch problems. The developer tried to reassure the interviewer and players reading the article by claiming that the team is taking the bugs “incredibly seriously” and that larger fixes are “coming soon”. Solomon also claimed that the Firaxis team wasn’t aware of the problems ahead of release, and that’s the reason the game launched in this state:

(Maybe this is damning on me, but I’m sitting here talking to you now on the laptop I use to play it on,) explained Solomon, (and I didn’t see these issues. We didn’t catch this stuff in compatibility testing. We’re fully, fully accountable for the product in people’s hands, so we certainly take responsibility for it.)

(To people who are suffering them, if they’re frustrated, I’m as frustrated and more. We will continue to update the game, and we do have some workarounds heck, you guys even posted some workarounds but we definitely have fixes coming soon.)

(I can’t say dates, but I would say that we’re working very furiously. We already have a lot of those issues in our sights.)

Given I have yet to sink my teeth in the Enemy Within content for the game’s predecessor, I was planning to wait on XCOM 2 either way, so this news really only solidifies my decision. I do, however, hope that the title’s problems are solved sooner rather than later, considering the large number of early adopters (we don’t have sales numbers yet, but SteamSpy estimates for the game to have between 643,002 and 679,470 owners on Steam). Obviously not all of the game’s players experienced technical issues, but those that did want and deserve a good, technically sound experience, and hopefully they won’t have to wait too long to get it.