WB Games Admits Defeat On 'Batman: Arkham Knight,' Offers Refunds Again

News
By Derek Forrest
published

It appears the rerelease of Batman: Arkham Knight a mere few days ago was the final death rattle of a resoundingly disappointing release from WB Games and Rocksteady, which are now once again offering full refunds for gamers still experiencing issues with the PC version of the final chapter of the Batman: Arkham franchise.

We recently took a final look at the game, benchmarking what was supposed to be a polished version of the Batman: Arkham finale. Unfortunately, our results indicated a performance hit at higher resolutions. The absence of promised SLI and Crossfire compatibility, combined with remaining performance issues and a 12 GB system memory recommendation for Windows 10 users, seemed to resemble the same day-one issues we reported on when the game first launched in June.

WB Games addressed the second-try failure in a post released on Halloween, which is fitting for this horror story of a PC game debut. In it, the company explained that dissatisfied customers can obtain a full refund on Batman: Arkham Knight for PC, regardless of how long they have played the title. The season pass can also be returned, but only in conjunction with the game, not separately.

WB Games once again encouraged gamers to stick around by promising to continue patching Batman: Arkham Knight. "For those of you that hold onto the game, we are going to continue to address the issues that we can fix and talk to you about the issues that we cannot fix."

Wait a minute, did WB Games just admit it cannot fix certain aspects of the PC version of the game? This concession, along with another round of refunds, signals an overwhelming defeat for the company. WB Games is in the running for worst PC game launch of all time with not just one, but two refund offers and a laundry list of lingering problems, some of which may be impossible (apparently) to iron out. This is arguably the saddest Batman ever.

Diehards who cling to the failed game will still be able to download all the previous Batman: Arkham titles, but many in our own community felt that was a slap to the face, as most fans who were looking forward to the last chapter already own the previous incarnations of the series.

Perhaps the only thing WB Games has done right here has been finally admitting that some things just won't (and can't) be fixed. Hopefully, this is a lesson for the company and other game developers on the merits of correctly porting console games to PC, and this will not become more of a trend than it already seems to be for PC versions of popular AAA game titles.

Derek Forrest is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware and Tom’s IT Pro. PC gaming, graphics hardware and VR devices are among his favorite topics to cover. He is a lifelong PC enthusiast, former IT administrator and a custom PC builder with a penchant for creating music, voice acting and all things geek.

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Derek Forrest
Derek Forrest
Derek Forrest is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He writes hardware news and reviews gaming desktops and laptops.
26 Comments Comment from the forums
  • c4s2k3
    (one of these days I'll figure out the correct 'Comment' button for an article here :-)
    "Epic" Fail seems inadequate. I just hope this doesn't discourage developers from publishing games on PC platform. I could see some concluding there is enough money to be made on consoles, so the hell with PC. I just can't stand console gaming. Not trying to stir up a console vs. PC flame war here, the console experience just isn't good for me. It's obviously great for many others.

    Of course, developers could also choose to develop for PC and then optimize down for consoles instead of the other way around, which tends to limit PC version capabilities even if the game ultimately "works".
    Reply
  • jazz84
    Call me crazy, but I'm actually glad to see this remain an abject failure of a PC launch. Yeah, I suppose there's a bit of schadenfreude towards WB Games, but mainly I think it's ultimately more beneficial for the PC gaming landscape that it turned out this way. If they had fixed it, that's the kind of story that tells a corporation, "Okay, we can put out a crappy port, patch it after release, and still make a buck and look decent to the shareholders." Now, they have undeniable proof that half-assing the port to PC will cost them a ton of sales, not to mention the apparently wasted time and money trying to fix their laziness and the resulting terrible PR. Indeed, let this be a lesson to every AAA publisher that rushing any sort of port is just not worth the risk to their bottom line. Sucks that a good franchise has to suffer, but hopefully it's worth it in the long run.
    Reply
  • xenol
    Even if this means that they won't publish games on the PC anymore, at least they're doing what they can to rectify the situation. There have been a few other developers who just gave the PC platform a middle finger and walked off.
    Reply
  • Sunderas
    Well, that's embarrassing...
    Reply
  • Pedasc
    It is actually running well enough for me so far, even with Gameworks on. I get nearly 60 FPS with occasional drops to no less than 30. I haven't hit any of the massive, unplayable slowdowns anymore. This hits the acceptable range for me and if it was released in this state I would have accepted it, but have been a bit disappointed. At this stage it looks like I will not ask for a refund.

    I do not like pre-ordering but I figured with the other games being at least playable this one was a safe bet. This has taught me a lesson I needed I guess and I will wait from now on.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    Pathetic.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    16880807 said:
    Even if this means that they won't publish games on the PC anymore, at least they're doing what they can to rectify the situation. There have been a few other developers who just gave the PC platform a middle finger and walked off.

    I played the game on a HD7970GHz just fine. I think there are two sides to this. Yes the game had issues, that is a 100%. And they should be trying to fix it with everything they have, even if it means reworking the game engine.

    But there is also the PC gaming mentality. I love PC gaming. I only have a 360 because of my wifes younger (19 years younger) brother. I haven't even touched it in a year myself. But there seems to be this mentality in PC gaming that if a game doesn't run perfect for everyone it is bugged and a failure and its 60FPS or GTFO on mid end hardware. While the game by no means should need a GTX 980Ti to run maxed out 60FPS it needs more than what some people think it should.

    I think they have been doing the right thing, although not succeeding 100%. How many other games can people say offered a full refund after the refund policy was up and even for people who probably beat the game to 100%?

    The first big patch did fix a lot for most people, what most on Steam were moaning about was the DLC not being out even though when this all began WB clearly stated the DLC would come out with the re-release of the game.

    The way some of the PC gamers act makes me a bit ashamed. If PC gamers are supposed to be the higher beings of gaming, some of us sure do not act like it.
    Reply
  • Larry Litmanen
    16880807 said:
    Even if this means that they won't publish games on the PC anymore, at least they're doing what they can to rectify the situation. There have been a few other developers who just gave the PC platform a middle finger and walked off.

    I played the game on a HD7970GHz just fine. I think there are two sides to this. Yes the game had issues, that is a 100%. And they should be trying to fix it with everything they have, even if it means reworking the game engine.

    But there is also the PC gaming mentality. I love PC gaming. I only have a 360 because of my wifes younger (19 years younger) brother. I haven't even touched it in a year myself. But there seems to be this mentality in PC gaming that if a game doesn't run perfect for everyone it is bugged and a failure and its 60FPS or GTFO on mid end hardware. While the game by no means should need a GTX 980Ti to run maxed out 60FPS it needs more than what some people think it should.

    I think they have been doing the right thing, although not succeeding 100%. How many other games can people say offered a full refund after the refund policy was up and even for people who probably beat the game to 100%?

    The first big patch did fix a lot for most people, what most on Steam were moaning about was the DLC not being out even though when this all began WB clearly stated the DLC would come out with the re-release of the game.

    The way some of the PC gamers act makes me a bit ashamed. If PC gamers are supposed to be the higher beings of gaming, some of us sure do not act like it.


    You hit the nail on the head, i honestly would not be surprised if this was the last Batman on PC.

    Right now millions still have PS3s and 360's so publishers have to develop games for PC, PS3, PS4, 360 and One. Once older consoles will be replaced (i assume after this holiday season) game developers will have enough of a base to just ignore PCs completely.

    What people do not get is large AAA multi platform titles make only 10-15 of it sales from PCs. The rest is console market.
    Reply
  • stoned_ritual
    Thank goodness I had the self control. This game was released on my birthday, and I thought "I should wait and see if it's broken, because Origins was busted up really bad when it released too",
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    16881458 said:
    Thank goodness I had the self control. This game was released on my birthday, and I thought "I should wait and see if it's broken, because Origins was busted up really bad when it released too",

    Origins had two bugs, one that was actually by-passable and did not break the game (I ran into it and was able to still beat the game), and one that was game breaking, the on at My Alibi where everything was black.

    Performance wise, Origin was better than Arkham City at launch (City had massive DX11 performance issues for most but were eventually fixed) and didn't have the stuttering that some reported in Knight.

    Game wise, Knight is as good as City.
    Reply