Electronic Arts has confirmed that a fix is planned for release this week that should improve PC performance in Wild Hearts. The now-released Monster Hunter-like co-op action game has received a warm welcome from fans interested in other developers' take on the subgenre. But while Wild Hearts' gameplay has impressed, technically it has a lot of serious issues -- especially on PC. Developer Omega Force is rushing to improve Wild Hearts as fast as it can.Issues with Wild Hearts' PC performance were immediately apparent as soon as the game launched in early access. Electronic Arts included a Wild Hearts trial in its standard EA Play subscription benefits, so the game unlocked several days ahead of launch. Massive stuttering issues, crashes, audio glitches, and an inability to fully utilize a player's CPU remain consistent problems even now. Rumors of a launch day patch proved to be untrue. On February 16, Electronic Arts issued an official statement acknowledging the ongoing issues with Wild Hearts' PC performance. The message listed issues that Omega Force already had fixes for, including a CPU threading issue that should result in significant improvements for high-end PCs. An update couldn't be issued immediately, though. It would have to wait until next week.
The latest update from Electronic Arts was posted on February 17 and reiterated that a patch is coming this week, though whether it's early or late in the week isn't clear. The patch will improve PC performance, allowing Wild Hearts to be "comfortably run." Suffice it to say, the patch isn't going to make the game perfectly polished or impressive in a new way. It's to address Wild Hearts' most serious performance issues.
The update from Electronic Arts does have one other interesting recommendation, though. EA says that Wild Hearts players on PC may get performance improvements if they switch their "Output Settings" in Wild Hearts' Audio settings from Stereo to 7.1ch/5.1ch. While this fix doesn't work for everyone and doesn't necessarily improve performance significantly, it could help some PC players eke out a bit better Wild Hearts experience as they wait for the PC patch later this week.
EA also reiterates that it's continuing to gather feedback regarding the current state of Wild Hearts and that Omega Force will continue improving the game going forward. PC performance likely needs significant additional work even after this week's patch, while platforms including PS5 and Xbox Series S have had notable issues, too. Luckily, Omega Force has already been dedicated to monthly Wild Hearts content patches starting in March, so the developer is committed to ensuring its game retains players for as long as possible.
Wild Hearts is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.