After four years, a new patch for Nier Automata is approaching. It will finally bring the Steam version up to the same technical standard as the Xbox Game Pass version
.
Four years is a long time. Especially when you have to wait for a game to finally run technically clean. That’s what happened with Nier: Automata – or more precisely its Steam version. It lagged behind the Xbox Game Pass version by quite a bit.
After numerous fans voiced their displeasure about this in the spring, the publisher Square Enix had a change of heart and promised a patch for the Steam version. It will finally be released on 15 July 2021 and make many players’ hearts happy.
What the new patch brings
This much in advance: The patch does not make any changes to the game content or balance. It is a purely technical update, but it was more than necessary. Because at the latest since the release of the Xbox Game Pass version, which was ported by the external developer QLOC, the owners of the Steam version felt like second-class customers.
Not only did Nier: Automata run with a much more stable frame rate in Game Pass, but the lack of support for a modern 4K resolution and poor edge smoothing also enraged people. All of these issues are now to be addressed by the update.
One of the highlights is the frameless window mode, which should ensure a smoother frame rate. In addition, the global illumination has been improved. And the aforementioned support for 4K resolutions will also be added, which includes the user interface.
The full patch notes
– Video settings for frameless window mode have been implemented.
– A Fidelity FX CAS feature has been added.
– The system can now detect if HDR has been enabled in the Windows screen settings, and if so, the game will automatically launch in HDR mode.
– Adjustments to the edge smoothing functionality.
– Approx. 270 UI textures for icons, backgrounds and UI elements etc. now support 4K resolution.
– Improved bitrate and adjusted all pre-rendered intermediate scenes to play in 60FPS and display in the correct aspect ratio without stretching the image.
– A new “Global Lighting” feature has been implemented. This can be set to three levels: High, Medium or Low.
– The rendering targets for environment occlusion and bloom effects have been changed to dynamic resolution according to the resolution of the game.
– It is now possible to select between recently selected display modes for screenshots by pressing the Alt and Enter keys at the same time, such as between full screen and windowed mode or between frameless and windowed mode.
– The mouse cursor is no longer displayed when using a gamepad controller.
– The frame rate has been stabilised to 60FPS in the default settings.
– Other stability improvements have also been implemented.
Do you own the Steam version of Nier: Automata? What do you think of the changes made – too late, or better than never? Let us know in the comments.
