The latest hit from Square Enix, Outriders is off to a great start. It's already one of Steam's top-selling games, garnering over 100,000 concurrent players on PC alone. The sci-fi RPG blew past Marvel's Avengers' peak player count just a few hours after launch. Although Outriders appears to be a hit on both consoles and PC, server issues are starting to overshadow its success.
Like most new multiplayer games, Outriders is having trouble keeping up with the influx of new players swarming its servers. There have been numerous reports detailing issues preventing gamers from even entering Outriders. The vast player base seems to be overwhelming the game's servers, causing unbearable matchmaking wait times, log-in problems, and connection issues. Since Outriders requires players to be online (even in single-player mode), server problems are starting to erode the game's otherwise impressive launch.
Outriders is great once you connect to a server and enter into the turbulent world of Enoch. Troublesome bugs and glitches don't run rampant in-game like other modern AAA titles. Most of the issues take place before the game begins. Getting past the log-in screen proves to be more difficult than expected, with wait times sometimes entering into the double digits. Some players are restarting the application as well as their consoles just to get past the startup screen. Some people didn't even experience the game upon launch due to the log-in screen freezing up. Although the issues seem to be less apparent since launch, it was such a sizable blemish at release that some gamers jumped ship before they even began.
Multiplayer is where Outriders truly shines. The only problem is most players aren't willing to sit through the incredibly long matchmaking times just to play alongside another Outrider. Many gamers are finding themselves in a never-ending cycle of wait times and server errors to join multiplayer parties. When Outriders does find an acceptable party (usually after several minutes), if the team denies the invitation, the player is forced to start the process over again. This wouldn't be an issue if the wait times didn't reach over five minutes sometimes. The extended matchmaking can be downright infuriating, especially when the server crashes right when players join a party.
Although the technical issues can sometimes be overbearing for new players, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Square Enix is aware of the problems and appears to be working diligently to ensure everything runs smoothly. The servers seem to be more stable than they were upon launch. Although they are still far from perfect, more players can pass the log-in screen and experience the game with minimal issues.
The matchmaking still suffers from long wait times, but they are leagues better now than they were previously. They rarely exceed the double-digit mark and tend to match players with a new party rather quickly. The Outriders Twitter page is doing a phenomenal job being transparent on the issues and updating players on fixes quickly too. Although Outriders still suffers from technical problems, it's a drastic improvement from launch.
Square Enix appears to be tackling Outriders' server and matchmaking issues head-on. It's nice to see a company take charge and do everything in its power to give players the epic sci-fi experience they crave. While Outriders still has its fair share of technical issues, Square Enix will likely resolve the ongoing problems sooner rather than later.