When Sony Interactive and Guerrilla Games's Horizon: Zero Dawn was released last week, it was met with pretty astounding acclaim from critics and players alike. Today, in apparent efforts to keep satisfaction high across the board, the companies rolled out patch 1.03 for the open-world action-RPG.

Horizon: Zero Dawn's first patch post-release centers around debugging and fixing a few issues, particularly in-game crashes and choppy progression. Sony and developer Guerrilla Games were made aware of these hiccups through player reports that crashes were occurring earlier and earlier in the game; some were experiencing problems not long after the game booted. Last week, Guerrilla Games addressed the issue, posting a statement on Twitter: "We're currently looking at an issue some players have reported while viewing Horizon's opening cinematic."

Update 1.03 appears to remedy all that. Weighing in at 227.9 MB, the patch is available for automatic download on those playing on a PlayStation 4 that's connected to the internet. Once installed, players will notice that the patch clears up a multitude of different bugs, squashes performance issues, and, according to the notes, offers "multiple crash and progression fixes." That's the only line Horizon: Zero Dawn fans receive in the full patch notes, but the file size is fairly small, which makes for a speedy download, and what the 1.03 update addresses is pretty major.

Though there isn't much to dive into in Horizon: Zero Dawn's initial patch following its day-one updates, players are sure to be pleased with the changes and improvements, as well as how swiftly and graciously Guerrilla Games developed and implemented a solution. When learning that gamers were experiencing crashes during early cutscenes, or barely making it to the gorgeous cinematic, the developer stepped up and reassured them that a fix was on the horizon:

"We are aware that a small number of users are suffering a crash during cinematic sequences when playing Horizon: Zero Dawn, most notably in the opening cinematic. We are investigating the issue with the highest priority."

Critics have described Horizon: Zero Dawn as game that was unexpected but incredibly satisfying, almost everything a player could want to have, see, and experience in an open-world title. Our own review states the game is one that "takes familiar open world elements and makes them its own" and shows a "blend of nature and technology that help create a memorable PS4 exclusive." Given that Horizon: Zero Dawn is currently the PlayStation 4's biggest franchise launch in history, it looks like critics were right.

Following the release of the 1.03 patch update, it seems things will to continue on an upward spiral for the highly-lauded game and its throng of dedicated fans.

Horizon: Zero Dawn released on February 28, 2017 for PlayStation 4.

Source: WCCFTech