The PC release of Guerrilla Games' Horizon: Zero Dawn is a rare example of a Sony-exclusive title becoming more accessible through a new platform. However, the port has been chastised for bugs, lag, and crashes, leading to Guerrilla Games addressing Horizon: Zero Dawn's issues on Twitter. Patch 1.01 released today with a number of fixes, as well as a Steam community update that confirmed what problems are being prioritized — including some collected via Reddit.
One of the major fixes implemented through Patch 1.01 is an issue where Horizon: Zero Dawn would crash if SteamUI did not initialize properly. It also addresses mechanics such as Concentration not working for everyone, players being unable to save the game if they have special characters in their profile name, and "several backend issues," on top of making sure the game collects better diagnostic data if users submit a crash report.
There are also concerns identified as "high-priority issues" with fixes in the works, such as GPU-related hangs, issues with settings like 4K not displaying properly, and other crash causes. Today's "small" patch also indicates Guerrilla Games is looking into a list of problems in Horizon: Zero Dawn on PC that was created by Reddit user EvilMonkeySlayer on the r/horizon subreddit, which includes wonky snow deformation and mouse aiming issues.
Guerrilla Games responded to EvilMonkeySlayer's post on Monday, letting them know, "We really appreciate all your support." That sentiment extends into today's Steam update, which says the team is addressing as much feedback as they can and links to instructions on how to run a diagnostic report, thus helping to create "an enjoyable experience" for Horizon: Zero Dawn's huge install base on PC.
Though many have found this PC port disappointing considering the game's success on PS4, some believe its bevy of issues are the result of it being based on an earlier build. An anonymous programmer claimed Horizon: Zero Dawn's PC port is a debug build based on some of its code, which may explain its problematic launch.
Regardless of why Horizon: Zero Dawn on PC is problematic, it's good to see Guerrilla Games working hard to expediently fix major issues like game crashing. This experience should also help them in creating the game's sequel, as Horizon: Forbidden West has new environments, mechanical beasts, and more to suggest it will be an ambitious follow-up.
Horizon: Zero Dawn is available now on PS4 and PC.