Update: In a post on Reddit (opens in new tab), an Obsidian representative promised a patch to frustrated Spacer's Choice Edition owners." The Private Division team is working to release the patch as soon as possible," the rep said, and as soon as the details become available, the studio "will be sure to let everyone know." In the meantime, players experiencing problems are encouraged to "submit a support ticket (opens in new tab)" to Private Division, which is currently "the dedicated support for The Outer Worlds."

Original Article Private Division's pledge that the Spacer's Choice Edition of The Outer Worlds would run at a smooth 4K 60fps may have been premature. The next-gen version of the satirical 2019 RPG was released yesterday and has already earned a "Mostly Negative" rating on Steam, with numerous players complaining about performance issues with the newly remastered game. [A review by Tyler McVicker (opens in new tab) (formerly Valve News Network) writes, "The game's 'improved' look is not worth the massive slowdowns and stuttering that were previously absent. "Dangerz Close Another review by OG (opens in new tab) is somewhat more modest: "As someone who played the OG version just prior to downloading this version, I can safely say they got this remake right pig's ear."

But perhaps the review that best sums up the reaction is from Akerwood (opens in new tab): "You've tried the best, choose the rest. Spacer's Choice Edition. Spacer's Choice Edition.

This type of review has been echoed elsewhere: on Reddit, a user named JBamby01 (open in new tab) complained about the RTX 3070's persistent stuttering, exclaiming, "I really don't understand how any company can pull off this kind of crap. I don't get it," he exhaled. Meanwhile, other players with machines that can comfortably play cyberpunk are begging for a fix (opens in new tab). Some players say they can achieve a playable frame rate by lowering the settings until the game is similar to the original version, but at that point there is not much reason to play the new game other than the high level cap.

Inexplicably, these problems plague even next-gen consoles, which developers making "next-gen" versions of games generally seem to pay attention to; both PS5 (open in new tab) and Xbox (open in new tab) players, in their own comments about the game, have reported the same reports of horrible stuttering.

These problems are more severe because most people experiencing these problems have paid for the upgrade. In a move that belies either a complete misunderstanding or a complete understanding of the game's anti-corporate satire, The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition was not offered free (open in new tab) to players of the original version. But even in that case, they would still pay $10 for this clearly degraded version of the game.

Not quite the same as the recent rash of shoddy PC ports (open in new tab) that we have previously complained about, these dodgy remasters are still a worrisome trend. The recent "definitive" versions of "GTA 3," "Vice City," and "San Andreas" were notorious dumpster fires (open in new tab); the recent next-gen patch for "The Witcher 3" caused many problems (open in new tab) for some players when it was first released (moreover, it was a staggering (and, to their dismay, accidentally added vaginas (open in new tab) to some of the game's female monsters). And now, "Outer Worlds" is here again. Hopefully the remastering will provide players with the best choice instead of the spacers' choice.