performance challenges Archives

AppWizard

April 11, 2026

This ‘highly realistic’ city-builder could be the first real competition Cities: Skylines has seen in over a decade

City Masterplan is a newly unveiled metropolis simulator that offers expansive environmental canvases measuring 24x24 km, allowing players to design urban landscapes in various architectural styles. The game features a visual aesthetic similar to Cities: Skylines 2, with realistic skies, dynamic lighting, and immersive weather conditions. It is built on the Unreal Engine, which may present performance challenges. As Cities: Skylines approaches its twelfth anniversary, there is a demand for a fresh city-building experience, with City Masterplan potentially revitalizing the genre. There is no official release date, but speculation suggests a launch not before 2027.

AppWizard

April 11, 2026

Cities Skylines 2’s performance is still struggling, and the devs need your help

Cities Skylines 2 has faced performance issues and limited content since its launch. Iceflake Studios is working on improvements, collaborating with Unity to address performance challenges. The game is CPU-intensive, with unique challenges due to its dynamic nature. Key areas for enhancement include rendering performance, simulation performance, and pathfinding. Recent changes have simplified citizen modeling and improved pathing, leading to a better gameplay experience. The game's Steam rating has shifted from 'Mixed' to 'Mostly Positive.' Iceflake has developed a benchmarking tool to collect performance data, which will be integrated into an upcoming patch.

AppWizard

April 8, 2026

After a recent patch, Death Stranding 2 is great on Steam Deck

Upon the release of Death Stranding 2 for PC, players experienced significant performance issues on the Steam Deck, with framerates fluctuating between the teens and mid-20s and long hitches occurring. This contrasted with the smoother performance of Death Stranding: Director's Cut on the same device. The game was originally designed as a PS5 exclusive, which may explain the performance struggles on the aging hardware of the Steam Deck.

AppWizard

March 16, 2026

The best extraction shooters on PC or: how I learned there are other games like Arc Raiders

Extraction shooters are experiencing a renaissance with a growing selection of titles catering to various playstyles. These games revolve around the concept of "extraction," requiring players to safely leave a mission area with collected loot, risking loss upon death. Arc Raiders is a third-person extraction shooter available on Steam and Epic, where players combat massive flying robots and navigate potential teammate betrayal while scavenging for gear. It features aggressive matchmaking and offers both PvE and PvP experiences, with optional seasonal gear wipes. Marathon, a first-person extraction shooter from Bungie, includes unique character classes with distinct abilities and fast-paced rounds. Players can quickly accumulate gear and have unlimited free loadouts, with a narrative enriched by colorful quest-givers. Escape from Duckov is a top-down extraction shooter where players control ducks on quests, offering easy mechanics, exploration, base building, and gear upgrades, making it suitable for newcomers. Hunt: Showdown is set in the Louisiana bayou, emphasizing stealth and strategic gameplay as players hunt bosses and contend with rival hunters, featuring a long-term progression system. Witchfire blends single-player gameplay with fast-paced action and inventive weapons, maintaining an engaging loop of resource gathering and upgrading, currently in Early Access. The Forever Winter is a third-person shooter set in an apocalyptic world, focusing on survival amidst towering mechs and tanks, still in Early Access with some performance challenges. The extraction shooter genre is diversifying, offering experiences for both casual gamers and seasoned veterans.

AppWizard

March 3, 2026

Capcom Confirms That PC Makes Up Roughly Half of its Total Game Sales

Capcom reported that approximately 50 percent of its game sales are from PC buyers, and it anticipates this ratio will continue to rise. The company is focusing on enhancing its PC development framework, particularly in response to performance challenges faced with Monster Hunter Wilds. Capcom has made significant improvements to the game's performance on PC, including a February update that optimized CPU and GPU loads. Despite global memory shortages affecting RAM prices, Capcom stated there has been no material impact on its operations so far. Upcoming releases include Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on March 13, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection on March 27, and Pragmata on April 24. Resident Evil Requiem has received positive reviews and achieved over 300,000 concurrent players on its launch day.

AppWizard

January 30, 2026

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a chaotic yet brilliant RPG, and you haven’t got long to get it cheaper than ever

Dragon's Dogma 2 is a triple-A RPG that has garnered mixed reactions from players, with some appreciating its depth while others find it lacking. Players take on the role of the Arisen, tasked with summoning Pawns and confronting a Dragon. The game features a 'Vocation' system that allows players to choose and change classes, enhancing combat strategy. Since its release, the game has improved in performance, and it has received a rating of 7/10 from a recent review. Currently, Dragon's Dogma 2 is available for .06, a 64% discount, but this offer ends on February 1, 2025, at 4 PM PT.

AppWizard

January 29, 2026

Sorry if this jinxes it, but the latest Monster Hunter Wilds performance improvement patch seems like it actually improved performance

Capcom released a performance patch for Monster Hunter Wilds that has significantly improved the game's performance on PC, particularly on Steam. Users report a remarkable reduction in frametime lows, with many stating that all previous performance issues have been resolved. The patch has received a positive reception, leading to a surge in favorable reviews. Players are now able to recommend the game, with some finding optimal settings for performance on the Steam Deck. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the patch has effectively addressed prior gameplay hitching issues, resulting in smoother framerates.

AppWizard

January 28, 2026

Why High-Performance Android Apps Require More Than Just Kotlin and Jetpack

Smartphone users expect immediate feedback and seamless experiences from applications, which requires a holistic approach to mobile development that integrates user interface design with robust server-side capabilities. Challenges in app architecture and backend integration can hinder performance, particularly for high-level applications. Developers often focus on frontend aspects, neglecting the importance of backend processes, which can lead to issues such as inefficient API payloads and data fetching latency. Architectural bottlenecks, like excessive data retrieval, can waste bandwidth and battery life. A well-structured Android architecture can separate UI from data management complexities, aiding scalability. Modern tools like Jetpack Compose enhance UI development but can introduce performance issues if backend state delivery is inconsistent. Collaborating with specialized nearshore mobile app development teams can help US-based companies address these challenges effectively, benefiting from time zone alignment and cost-effective solutions while maintaining engineering expertise.

AppWizard

January 18, 2026

The Latest Monster Hunter Wilds PC perf drama explained

A Reddit post by user de_Tylmarande claimed that purchasing downloadable content (DLC) could improve frame rates in the PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds. Testing revealed that the performance issues were due to a bug related to the game's frequent checks for DLC presence, particularly in specific hub areas. Using a mod called "Less DLC Checks," which integrates with the RE Framework modding tool, players observed significant performance improvements: 11.4% at maximum settings, 20% at high settings, and 25.6% at low settings when DLC checks were blocked. The performance hit primarily occurs near a Support Desk felyne, indicating the availability of DLC. Capcom has not officially addressed the issue, and while the narrative about DLC enhancing performance was debunked, it raises concerns about the company's quality assurance processes.

AppWizard

January 16, 2026

‘The game literally flies’: Monster Hunter Wilds reportedly runs much better on PC when all DLC is installed

A player named deTylmarande discovered a correlation between downloadable content (DLC) ownership and performance issues in the PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds. They experienced improved frame rates on a friend's account with all DLC, while their own account, which had only the standard edition, suffered from frequent frame rate drops. DeTylmarande theorized that an "aggressive DLC ownership check function" negatively impacts performance when DLC is not owned. They created a mod that bypasses the DLC check, resulting in significantly improved performance. De_Tylmarande believes this issue is a bug rather than an intentional design by Capcom and has reached out to the company for a fix. Capcom has stated that their upcoming title, Resident Evil Requiem, is unlikely to face similar performance issues due to differences in gameplay mechanics and system architecture.