Where do you even begin with the issues? Crashes, shader compilation that could take 40 minutes to more than an hour, terrible hair, characters suddenly being drenched in cutscenes, Tess floating in the air – the list goes on. Naughty Dog has released some hotfixes, but players are still reporting issues.

How could this happen, though? The Last of Us isn’t just one of Sony’s flagship franchises but the most hallowed. So what the heck happened to the PC port?

It’s important to step back and examine how we got here. Whether due to the success of Microsoft’s first-party Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S titles on PC or Sony no longer capable of ignoring the platform, it wanted a piece of the PC pie.

Despite how much it touted its exclusives and how you could only experience them on PlayStation, it opened up to the idea of bringing them to PC. This isn’t to say that PlayStation never published anything on the platform but starting with Horizon Zero Dawn in 2020, it rolled out its marquee first-party titles for PC players.

There was just one problem. Well, several problems. Horizon’s PC port was subpar. Players with hardware far above the recommended requirements reported crashes, performance issues and poor optimization. Considering it was a PS4 title and ports like Death Stranding were very well-optimized, fans were less than forgiving.

Even six months later, there were still issues – Digital Foundry reported bugs with screen space ambient occlusion, LOD bias and even characters freezing on transitions while everything else moved normally.

However, despite all the issues at launch, Horizon Zero Dawn proved successful, selling over 700,000 copies in the first month. There’s no doubt Sony went ahead with commissioning other ports, like Bend Studio’s Days Gone and God of War (2018).

The former was handled in-house by Bend, and while it seemed to receive a strong response at launch, a quick peek at the developer’s list of known issues reveals a litany of problems. Stuttering, no HDR option for those with HDR monitors, lack of controller input, mouse issues, crashes – it just goes on. It addressed those problems, yet Sony needed a more long-term solution.

With God of War (2018), Santa Monica Studio worked directly with Jetpack Interactive for two years to ensure it was up to snuff. However, in 2021, Sony acquired Nixxes Software, known for its excellent PC ports. It handled the later patches for Horizon Zero Dawn and began working with Insomniac on porting Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales to PC.

Even with the hit-or-miss quality of its ports, Sony continued raking in sales. By May 2022, Horizon Zero Dawn sold almost 2.4 million on PC. Days Gone was 852,000 units sold, while God of War (2018), the most recent port, hit 971,000 sales. Things seemed to be on the right track, and sure enough, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered launched in August 2022 to extensive acclaim. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, available in November of that year, was also a great port. Oddly enough, its peak concurrent players weren’t too great, but at least there were no issues.

Unfortunately, there was trouble brewing. Iron Galaxy Studios was contracted to work on Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, and sure enough, several issues were reported when it launched in October 2022. Sackboy: A Big Adventure, released in the same month, was sadly overshadowed, though it didn’t seem to have any major problems. You could probably chalk this up to developer Sumo Digital’s long-running history of multi-platform development, but I digress.

In February 2023, Returnal was released on PC, with Climax Studios in charge alongside Housemarque. Players reported Fatal Errors, bugs, stuttering, performance issues and whatnot, which is a shame considering this is a PS5-exclusive title. It received patches to improve the overall quality, but there are still bugs. Then The Last of Us Part 1, ported by Iron Galaxy Studios with Naughty Dog released on PC recently, and the rest is history.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft’s initial PC ports were far from perfect, with more than a few kinks to work out. However, it now has several acclaimed exclusives on PC. Its Xbox titles are now synonymous with day-one PC releases and Game Pass, which seemed like a pipe dream less than a decade ago.

Where Sony could lack is the proper infrastructure. Don’t get me wrong – optimizing games is tough enough, especially PS5 exclusives. There’s a reason some PC ports took so long to release after their initial console versions. While Nixxes was acquired and had its pipeline for ports, the same may not apply to some of the other developers.

Whether this is a resource issue, not enough time or experts to help – because Nixxes is only one studio – the quality has been very uneven.

There isn’t a clear solution – Sony can’t simply acquire other studios that are also good at porting. It also needs a proper pipeline for its PC ports to go through, where a dedicated team handles things with the developers over a significant period. It may have seemed like a good idea to give the Spider-Man games to Nixxes and then figure things out with other developers, but that’s not a long-term solution.

Speaking on the issue of time, PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst stated in October 2022 that first-party titles would launch on PC at least a year after the PS5 version. Some quick math shows that The Last of Us Part 1 launched in September 2022 for PS5 and in March 2023 for PC.

That’s not a whole lot of time, and Sony could be accused of trying to cash in on the breakout success of The Last of Us HBO series. What’s more likely is that the PC version was always meant to release around the same time. Problems emerged, there was a three-week delay to fix major issues – because it has to arrive before the fiscal year ends – and things didn’t go as planned.

With plans to release ten live-service titles for PS5 by March 2026 and first-party live-service games launching simultaneously on PC and PS5, Sony desperately needs to sort out its PC ports. The Last of Us standalone multiplayer title is clearly a forerunner for its live-service ambitions, and Sony has done well by bringing in talent like Bungie to help out.

Hopefully, its recent PC debacles have raised enough alarms to warrant introspection and necessary changes to its current pipeline. The initial steps can be painful – again, just ask Microsoft – but with how serious PlayStation is about catering to PC players, it must aspire to a higher standard.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The PSO system is also updated to reduce stuttering with ray tracing enabled. Crashes that occur when finding or using translocators or during combat and situations with high particle effects should also be fixed. The installation process is also optimized to reduce file size, and 3840×1600 resolutions should now display correctly.

Check out the full patch notes below for more details. Returnal launched last month for PC after first releasing in April 2021 for PS5. Though receiving strong critical acclaim (check out our review here), there have been complaints of performance issues and stuttering. Stay tuned for more details on future patches and improvements in the future.

Returnal – March 9th Patch

PATCH NOTES:

• Multiple optimisation improvements to reduce stuttering on CPUs with fewer than 8 cores.
• Updated PSO system to reduce stuttering when Ray Tracing is enabled.
• Fixed crash that can occur when finding or using translocators.
• Fixed crash that can occur during various combat or high particle effect situations.
• Enabled Intel’s XeSS screen scaling technology on non-Intel hardware.
• Fixed blocker that can occur when killing the Typhonops and using a Reconstructor.
• Fixed 3840×1600 resolutions not displaying correctly.
• Fixed Steam overlay run time being out of sync with in-game cycle time.
• Optimised installation process to reduce file size.

Before that, please be advised that the following methods are to be used at the sole discretion of the system owner. GamingBolt or its staff members take no responsibility for problems or issues that may occur from trying the below. Remember that official support is always the best support.

PC Requirements

First, let’s take a look at the system requirements. In all cases, Windows 10 64-bit (version 1903) and 60 GB of installation space are mandatory.

Minimum (720p/60 FPS at Low settings)

• CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 (4 core, 2.7GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (4 core, 3.5GHz)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8 GB)
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4
• Storage: HDD supported but SSD Recommended

Medium (1080p/60 FPS at Medium settings)

• CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 (6 core, 2.8GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 core, 3.4GHZ)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB)
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended

Recommended (1080p/60 FPS at High settings)

• CPU: Intel i7-8700 (6 core, 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (8 core, 3.7 GHz)
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB)
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended

Epic (4K/60 FPS at Epic settings)

• CPU: Intel i7-9700K (8 core 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8 core 3.6 GHz)
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080 (10 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB)
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended

Ray Tracing (4K/60 FPS* at Epic settings)

• CPU: Intel i9-11900K (8 core, 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 core, 3.7 GHz)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB)
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended
  *Using Nvidia DLSS is recommended when enabling ray-traced reflections and shadows)

Now let’s take a look at some of the major issues that can affect PC players.

Fatal Error Crashes

One of the most common errors is the Fatal Error, which causes the game to crash. There’s currently no official fix, and the cause can vary. There are several different workarounds, thankfully. First, verify the game’s files through Steam. You can do this by right-clicking it in the Steam Library, selecting Properties and then the Local Files tab. Select Verify Integrity of Game Files to verify and let the process complete.

Another fix involves disabling the Steam Overlay while playing. Right-click on the game in the Steam Library and check the General tab. An option that says Enable Steam Overlay while in-game should be enabled. Uncheck it, and the Steam Overlay won’t run while playing.

Other fixes include switching the DirectX version. In the General tab of the game’s Properties, you’ll see an empty bar with Launch Options above it. Type “-dx11” to run the game in DirectX 11. Ray tracing is disabled while doing this, so clear the line if you want to enable ray tracing. You could also reinstall it to a solid-state drive (even if a hard-disk drive is possible at the bare minimum) and restart your system.

Performance Issues

Frame rate issues, stuttering and lag have also been reported, which also doesn’t quite have a fix. To alleviate this and improve performance, you could launch the game in DirectX 11, as stated previously. Alternatively, limiting your frame rate may help. Go to the graphics settings in-game and look for the Max Frame Rater option. This allows for setting a limit to the frame rate. Keep it around 45 to 60 frames, depending on your configuration.

For more details on Returnal, check out our review of the PC version here.

Note: Given the wide range of PC hardware available, some of the fixes mentioned here may or may not work for you. However, it’s worth giving them a shot since these have worked for some players.

As per SteamDB, upon its launch last week, Returnal was able to hit a peak concurrent user count of just 6,691 players on Steam. That’s the second-worst launch a Sony game has had on Steam so far, with Sackboy: A Big Adventure – which launched for the platform in October – only managing to hit a peak of 610 players.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, which also released for PC in October, also saw low numbers upon launch, with a peak concurrent user count of 10,851.

The next Sony game to release for PC is The Last of Us Part 1, which will be out on March 28.

Returnal sees lone astronaut Selene traveling to the decrepit planet of Atropos, where she finds herself facing threats both alien and psychological, and traverses the remains of an alien empire that has been gone for a long, long time. Every time she dies though, she finds herself opening her eyes back at the moment where she crash-landed on the planet, providing the framework for Returnal’s roguelike structure.

In our review of Returnal when it launched for PS5 in 2021, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Returnal is a swelling success on nearly every front- it’s got a captivating story that it tells very well, it’s got excellent combat that keeps you constantly engaged and on your toes, it’s got thoughtfully designed and smartly implemented mechanics that lend it oodles of depth and variety, it’s got engaging exploration that’s always rewarding, and it’s a visual and technical showcase that shows what the PS5 is capable of on multiple fronts. Frankly, it does more than anyone could have asked for.” Read the full review through here.

Story

As a scout for ASTRA, Selene Vassos travels to the planet Atropos to investigate a mysterious signal called “White Shadow.” After crashing and losing communication with the corporation, she begins exploring, and strange things occur immediately. Upon dying, Selene loops back in time to after the crash and begins receiving strange visions. How she escapes from Atropos, the various horrors that await, and more form the crux of her journey.

How Cycles Work

In essence, Returnal is a rogue-like game. You discover weapons, artifacts, health increases, Obolites (the default currency) and consumables during a run. Upon dying, you lose all of that (aside from permanent tools for exploring, like the grappling hook) and must start anew. Atropos changes with each run, referred to as a Cycle, and the placement of certain things – like bosses and the end of a region – remain the same. Selene also has a chance to encounter a strange house, which seems to be her own, and is explored from the first-person, further adding to the various mysteries surrounding the planet.

Gameplay

If you’ve played any of Housemarque’s arcade shoot ’em ups like Nex Machina, then Returnal will seem very familiar. It’s a third-person shooter at heart, and Selene can dodge and sprint. Eventually, she unlocks an Atropian Blade for melee attacks and disrupting enemy shields. For the most part, you’ll be dodging hundreds of enemy projectiles at a time and trying not to die while exploring the various biomes of Atropos.

As Selene slays foes without getting hit and executing perfect reloads (called Overloads), she’ll build Adrenaline and receive benefits like enhanced melee damage, more Obolites, a larger Overload window, increased weapon proficiency from kills, and so on. It resets on hit, so get good with dodging.

Biomes

There are multiple biomes to explore, each incredibly massive, whether it’s the Crimson Wastes with its deserts or the Derelict Citadel with its imposing structures. There are numerous types of enemies and rooms to encounter. Some may trap you in a room with a powerful mini-boss. Others have platforming challenges or require slaying tons of foes. A boss awaits, and you’ll need to defeat them to access the next biome. However, various shortcuts open up for accessing later biomes quickly, if you’re feeling confident.

Weapons and Upgrades

Selene initially starts with a standard pistol, but she’ll discover other weapons on Atropos like the Tachyomatic Carbine, which acts as an assault rifle; the rocket-firing Thermogenic Launcher; and the shotgun-esque Spitmaw Blaster. Each weapon has an alternate-fire mode and comes with random perks. As you explore Atropos deeper, you’ll find higher-rated versions of weapons that can deal more damage and even unlock additional perks as they gain Proficiency.

There are also Artifacts, which provide bonuses like Adrenaline Enhancer, allowing you to take a hit before losing Adrenaline, and Wound Seeker, which deals 30 percent more damage to enemies at low health. You’ll also run into Parasites, which provide unique benefits but with random Malfunctions. These can be removed at certain points, either through machines or by completing their challenges, and help spice up Cycles.

Challenge Mode

Challenge Mode is unlocked on your ship after clearing the first biome and allows for accessing Daily Challenges. These add modifiers to a fresh Cycle, both positive and negative while giving you a random starting weapon. You receive Ether for completing a challenge, which is useful when cleansing items of Malignancy (reducing their chance to inflict Malfunctions) and can also be exchanged for Obolites. It’s also spent at the beginning of a Cycle to unlock a new item, thus improving your chances.

Tower of Sisyphus

Added in the Ascension Update, the Tower of Sisyphus is an endless mode where players progress through multiple floors full of enemies and challenges. There’s a new boss and story content tied to your progress, though we won’t spoil everything about it. Clearing floors quickly results in a higher score multiplier, and new Disgorger weapons can help in a pinch. In terms of testing your skill and survival rate, it’s well worth playing.

Co-op

Also added in the Ascension Update is co-op. Two players can explore Atropos together, and you can either play with a friend or matchmake with a random player in a biome. Areas become more difficult, and the host’s progress determines the pool of available items. However, it’s fun if you’re seeking a more punishing, cosmic horror version of Journey. Challenge Mode, the Tower of Sisyphus and narrative sequences in the house aren’t available in co-op, so keep that in mind. Cross-play with PS5 players isn’t supported either.

Nvidia DLSS 3 and Ray-tracing

Returnal on PC supports Nvidia DLSS 3, and Nvidia Image Scaling, along with AMD FSR and FSR 2.0. It also offers metrics for tracking latency, FPS and CPU/GPU usage. Also, unlike the console version, ray-traced shadows and reflections are implemented, and you can adjust their strength using sliders.

Ultrawide Screen Support

Atropos is a dangerous planet, but it can also be extremely gorgeous. Along with 4K resolution, the PC version supports 16:10, 21:9 Ultrawide and 32:9 Super Ultrawide aspect ratios. Even if you’ve played through multiple times on PS5, this makes it worth re-experiencing on PC.

Keyboard and Mouse, and DualSense Support

Naturally, Returnal supports the PS5’s DualSense controller on PC, complete with haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support. You can still use a mouse and keyboard along with other controllers. Button prompts are also fully customizable for maximum convenience.

More Accessibility Options

Interestingly, the PC version gets some new accessibility options, including an alternate-fire crosshair charging notification and ping system for co-op. The latter should be especially useful if you’re matched with a random player to indicate the location of enemies and where to go next.

System Requirements

When the hardware requirements first came out, there was a fair bit of skepticism since Returnal needed 32 GB of RAM for its recommended settings. Housemarque and Climax Studios would since release updated requirements, and they’re a bit more reasonable, though 60 GB installation is required across the board. The minimum requirements for playing at 720p/60 FPS at Low settings include an Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X 3.5GHz, a GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8 GB) and 16 GB DDR4 RAM. You can use an HDD, but an SSD is recommended.

Medium requirements include a Core i5-8400 2.8GHz or Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHZ, GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB) or Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB), and 16 GB DDR4. This is enough for playing at 1080p/60 FPS at Medium settings. Finally, we have the Recommended requirements, which include a Core i7-8700 3.7 GHz or Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz, RTX 2070 Super (8 GB) or Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB), and 16 GB DDR4 RAM for 1080p/60 FPS at High settings. Both Medium and Recommended hardware need an SSD.

4K/60 FPS Requirements

But wait, there’s more. Those looking to play at 4K/60 FPS have separate requirements. Epic requirements include a Core i7-9700K 3.7 GHz or Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz, 32 GB DDR4 and an RTX 3080 (10 GB) or Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB). To enable Ray Tracing at these settings, you’ll need a Core i9-11900K 3.5 GHz or Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz, an RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) or Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB) and 32 GB DDR4. It’s also recommended to run Nvidia DLSS when ray tracing is enabled. As with the Medium and Recommended requirements, an SSD is mandatory.

Playtime

Due to its rogue-like nature, you can play Returnal for dozens of hours and see new combinations of rooms, enemies and challenges in each run. However, finishing the story will take about 20 hours. If you’re going the extra mile, which is necessary to get the full story of the base game, then it can take upwards of 30 hours (depending on your skill and some RNG). The Tower of Sisyphus is technically endless but contains about nine to ten hours of new story content to discover. Overall, you’ll be getting your money’s worth in terms of playtime.

If you do have 32 GB of RAM, an Intel Core i7-9700K (3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (3.6 GHz), and a GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB) or Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB), you can run Returnal in Epic settings at 4K/60 FPS. But wait, there’s more. An Intel Core i9-11900K (eight-core, 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 core, 3.7 GHz) with 32 GB DDR4 RAM and an RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) or Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB) can run the game in 4K/60 FPS, Epic settings, with ray tracing enabled. Enabling Nvidia DLSS is recommended, though.

Settings for Minimum (720p/30 FPS at Low quality), Medium (1080p/60 FPS at Medium quality), and Recommended (1080p/60 FPS at High quality) can be seen below. Returnal launches on February 15 for PC.

It also features Achievements, five graphical presets, and in-game metrics for measuring frames for second, latency, and GPU and CPU usage. Nvidia DLSS and NIS are supported along with AMD’s FSR and FSR 2.0. Ray-traced reflections and shadows are available with sliders for customizing their strength. Check out the latest trailer below to see how it looks.

Mouse and keyboard, along with other controllers, are supported with fully customizable buttons. The PS5’s DualSense controller is also supported with Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Triggers. Dolby Atmos is also supported, along with two types of 3D audio, and 5.1/7.1 surround sound.

If that weren’t enough, more accessibility options like an alt-fire crosshair charging notification and a co-op ping system are included. Stay tuned for more details on PC requirements for 4K and ray tracing.

Those who pre-order gain early access to the Electropylon Driver and Hollowseeker weapons, a Reflex Stimulant, one Pulsating Mass artifact, and one Adrenaline Booster. These should provide an early advantage for first-time players, but are still discovered throughout the game if you don’t pre-order. Steam players who link their accounts with PlayStation Network can unlock two outfits – the ASTRA Model 9 Prototype Suit and ASTRA Model 14 Tactical Suit.

The PC port of Returnal is handled by Climax Studios and features some heavy requirements. Head here for details on how to play at 4K/60 FPS on Epic settings with ray tracing enabled. You can also check out our review of the PS5 version here. Stay tuned for more updates and hopefully some extensive gameplay in the coming weeks.

Even the minimum settings are nothing to scoff at. On minimum specs, Returnal will require either an i5-6400 (4 core 2.7GHz) or a Ryzen 5 1500X (4 core 3.5GHz), along with either a GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or a Radeon RX 580 (8 GB), and 16 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, on recommended settings, the game will demand either an i7-8700 (6 core 3.7 GHz) or a Ryzen 7 2700X (8 core 3.7 GHz), along with either an RTX 2070 SUPER (8 GB) or an RX 6700 XT (12 GB), and 32 GB of RAM. On either setting, you’ll also need 60 GB of free storage space. You can check out the full system requirements below. 

Returnal launches for PC sometime in early 2023.