Spider-Man 2 Launches with 'Mixed' Steam Reviews Due to PC Performance Issues

The much-anticipated PC release of Spider-Man 2, developed by Nixxes, has stirred a mix of excitement and disappointment among gamers. Despite the initial promise of impressive performance based on its system requirements, the game has launched with a 'mixed' rating on Steam, largely due to numerous technical issues reported by players.

Currently, only 55% of the Steam reviews for Spider-Man 2 are positive. Players equipped with high-end hardware, such as those with an RTX 4090 and the latest Nvidia drivers (5.66.36), are experiencing frequent crashes. One user lamented, "Despite having a high-end GPU and running the latest Nvidia drivers, the game frequently crashes." Another frustrated player stated, "The game is completely unplayable on PC. It crashes to desktop every five minutes. I have already requested a refund."

A reviewer warned potential buyers, "Hold off on buying until they get a couple of stabilization patches out because holy hell. To say this is 'rough' is an understatement. Lighting doesn't load in some cutscenes, those same scenes run at seconds-per-frame, audio desync issues up the wazoo, freezing, stuttering, and just about every other performance issue I can think of. I'm gonna get a refund for now because frankly, there's other stuff I could use $70 for right now."

The primary problem seems to stem from the game's graphics controller crashing frequently, even on high-end PCs. One error message users receive states, "A problem has occurred with your display driver. This can be caused by out-of-date drivers, using game settings higher than your GPU can handle, an overheating GPU, or an error with the game. Please try updating your graphics drivers, or lowering your in-game settings."

Other reported issues include malfunctioning features like DLSS and ray tracing, long loading times, missing textures, and audio problems. Several players have also noted that the game can stutter after several hours of play, eventually leading to a hard crash. Some suspect that a memory leak might be the culprit behind these issues.

In response, Nixxes has addressed the community on the Steam forums, stating, "Sorry to hear you are experiencing issues. Please refer to the troubleshooting guides on the Nixxes Support website and contact us if the problem persists. Make sure to include your logs and crash dumps as outlined on the support website, so we can troubleshoot as quickly as possible."

Moreover, Nixxes has acknowledged a specific bug that can occur during photo-op missions in Spider-Man 2 when the framerate drops below 20 FPS. They suggested a workaround, advising players to "lower your graphics settings and/or resolution to pass this point."