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A patch that was released to try and address hacking in the PC version of Dark Souls 3 has been revoked after it caused widespread freezing problems for players.
Developer From Software last week updated the RPG to try and address the high-profile hacking of the game that led to allegations that vindictive players were able to inflict softbans on other players by striking them with hacked weapons. This, incidentally, appears not to have actually been the case, although it did spur From to try and address the root problem of what made such disruption possible in the first place.
However, in trying to fix one problem, another, arguably far bigger issue was created – freezing. Following the patch’s rollout, players suddenly found their game freezing for anything up to a second. This would happen every few minutes. Furthermore, while the game’s screen was frozen, it would continue to run in the background. Should that occur mid fight, then players found themselves open to all sorts of soul-losing calamities.
The cause of the freezing remains a mystery, although speculation pointed to a possible new mechanism by which the game would send some sort of validation to From’s servers to monitor for suspicious activity. This communication, if indeed it even occurs, could be causing the new wobble.
The PC version of the game has now been rolled back to its pre-patch state. This will hopefully fix the freezing problem, though does of course re-open the door to hackers.
From has, as always, remained largely silent about the problem, although a community manager who has become active on Reddit and the Steam forums has said: The patch has been removed temporarily to fix the freeze issues. We hope to reinstate the patch ASAP. If you fall victim to one of the bugs previously fixed, don’t worry, you won’t be penalised. We will keep you posted as soon as we have more info. Thank you for your understanding.”
Part of the problem here is definitely the lack of communication from the publisher and developer. This tension bordered on becoming hostile last month when it appeared Bandai Namco was trying to shift the blame onto players rather than acknowledging the problems.
