The popular looter shooter was unplayable for many in the handful of days after it came out as connectivity issues prevented login. The problem got so bad that PC and console matchmaking had to be disabled. “After working on Outriders for more than five years, we were as disappointed as you that the launch weekend did not go as planned,” a Square Enix rep said in a post on the Outriders subreddit. All who played Outriders between 31st March and 11th April are eligible for this appreciation package. Those who get an automatic inventory wipe restoration (there’s a nasty bug doing the rounds that wipes player inventories) also get the package. Here’s what your highest level character will get:
A level appropriate legendary weapon. A level appropriate amount of Titanium. The emote “Frustration”, which is otherwise unobtainable at this moment in time. “The irony here was not intentional but is fitting,” People Can Fly said.
There’s no release date for this package yet. Meanwhile, People Can Fly outlined Outriders’ first big patch, which is scheduled for next week. This adds stability improvements for matchmaking and crash fixes. “We are confident that these fixes will address the majority of crashes reported, as there are only a handful of root causes but the crashes they generate appear in a number of places,” People Can Fly said. Of note, the patch will change the default matchmaking setting from “Open” to “Closed”, which should help prevent randoms from popping into your solo game uninvited. “This will also help improve matchmaking times, as the queues will be less likely to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of constant matchmaking requests generated by “open” games,” People Can Fly said. And finally, there’s a balance change going live today. There’s more here, but the highlights are nerfs to the Trickster, the Technomancer and the Pyromancer. The poor old Devastator is untouched. Also of note: historian, bounty hunt, and monster hunt quests no longer grant legendary items for each subsequent completion. Players were repeating these quests in combination with a multiplayer bug to farm legendaries, which PCF called “exploit behaviour”. “Players who took advantage of this exploit will not be punished,” the developer said.