Elden Ring day one patch notes promises better stability and performance

Raytracing will not be implemented until some point after launch, however.

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Elden Ringis now just a few hours away—in fact, if you’ve pre-purchased it on PC, you can (and probably should) preload it now, so you can make with the hacking and the slashing as soon as the game is officially live. First, though, you’ll want to apply the day one patch, whichFromSoftwaredetailed earlier today.

“We have started distributing a patch to improve the stability of the gameplay,” the studio said in thepatch noteson Steam. “We apologize for the inconvenience, but please apply the latest patch before playing the game.”

After the patch is applied, you’ll see “App Ver. 1.02 - Regulation Ver. 1.02.1” in the bottom-right corner of the title screen, indicating that it’s been properly applied. As for what it fixes, the patch notes on Steam are a bit vague:

Raytracing support will not be implemented in the day one patch—the timing on that “will be revealed in future announcements.” Also note that the patch will not be rolled into the game download at launch: You will have to download all 13 GB of it and apply it after installing the game.

The big question, which unfortunately is not addressed in the patch notes, is whether it will address reports of significant stuttering during gameplay. “Over time, it tends to intermittently stutter and slow down for brief moments, especially as you’re out in the open world,” we said in our ownreview. “I never died to a hiccup in performance, but it made me pause and restart the game fairly often to fix the issue.”

Publisher Bandai Namco has previously said that the launch day patch will fix the problem, but unfortunately ourtesting with the 1.02 patchindicates that while the situation is improved, some issues still persist. Hopefully FromSoftware will have that problem fully taken care of soon.

Elden Ring goes live at 3 pm PT/6 pm ET tonight. For global timings, be sure to check outthe full unlock schedule.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill.Lotsof Henry Cavill.

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