Digital Foundry has dubbed Star Wars Jedi: Survivor the worst triple-A PC port of this year. There were rumors that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was struggling on all platforms during the review process, but EA likely did not anticipate just how negative the initial reception would be.
At the time of writing, this year is only a third of the way done, but PC ports are rapidly developing an infamous reputation. This is hardly a novel phenomenon, as last year's The Callisto Protocol was lambasted for stuttering which made the title virtually unplayable, and even Game of the Year winner Elden Ring struggled to perform consistently. But the unacceptable state of PC ports is an issue that is seemingly becoming ever more acute, rather than receding into technological history. EA's Wild Hearts was a competent competitor to the Monster Hunter franchise but, marred by poor performance, has faded away unceremoniously from public discourse. Even after being delayed, The Last of Us Part 1's PC port required a series of patches from Naughty Dog before the platform was a viable alternative to its PlayStation birthplace.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the cherry on top and, according to Digital Foundry, emblematic of everything that one would expect from a "lousy" PC port. The analysis video opens with an appreciated dose of brevity – the iconic Duel of the Fates accompanies a series of performance issues and graphical errors – before stating that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is "in a state that is hard to believe," especially as so many of the existing issues were present with 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Shader compilation stutter is one of the most significant issues identified by Digital Foundry, a frequent problem with disappointing PC ports. High-end GPU and CPU utilization are far lower than ideal, barely reaching fifty percent. The absence of DLSS and upscaling tools other than FSR means that there a very few remedies to frame rate woes, and offering graphics recommendations are next to impossible.
Beyond these technical limitations, Digital Foundry highlighted poor UI design and implementation, considering it to be a major failing of the port. EA and Respawn have since responded to the issues and are taking steps to address them. The note posted to the EA Star Wars Twitter account drew some ire from fans, as it felt that the publisher was not taking full responsibility for the state of the game. Hopefully, upcoming patches will be able to put the majority of problems to bed and allow fans to enjoy what is otherwise a compelling adventure in the Star Wars galaxy.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S