Hello Games releases multiple No Man's Sky PC patches over the weekend

We might have taken off this weekend, but Hello Game was hard at work improving the PC version of No Man's Sky. The studio also released patch notes for all three patches.

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Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky released on PC over a week ago, although it needed some serious TLC considering how many issues players were experiencing with the game. Prior to the start of the weekend, the PC version received some much-needed patching, although Hello Games says it’s released three separate patches in total and has outlined all of the fixes and changes its made to No Man’s Sky as a result.

The initial patch for the PC version of No Man’s Sky focused squarely on greater support for more hardware, which included AMD Phenom Support, improved performance, fixing the max FPS cap, and more.

The second patch focused on some of the game’s most reported bugs or crashes, which included explorers being stuck under the world, the game crashing after a warp, and a strange inability to save your progress until you died.

The third, and final patch that released this weekend, focused on more common support requests, which includes becoming stranded within space stations, being able to load corrupted save files, and fixes for players who compiled a large amount of discoveries, blueprints, and waypoints.

Here’s the full patch notes list for all three patches released over the weekend:

Patch 1

The focus of patch 1 was to add greater support for more hardware. Either specific hardware configs, or hardware outside our min spec. We want as many people to be able to play as possible, and these were our most reported issues.

AMD Phenom Support

Game is now confirmed working on Phenom CPUs.

Thousands of lines of assembly have been rewritten to support AMD CPUs. The game code no longer relies on anything above SSE 2,

Havok Physics has also now created new libs for us to add Phenom support.

Alt-Tab has improved

Some systems/configs were crashing or not pausing correctly on Alt Tab. This should now be resolved.

Improved Performance

  • On CPUs with 4 threads or fewer, performance has been improved.
  • On CPUs with exactly 8 threads, performance has also been significantly improved.

Framerate Stuttering due to Shader Caching

Framerate was initially stuttering due to shaders not being correctly cached by the GPU on some systems. We have replaced the GPU caching system. You may notice some stutter during the Galactic Map intro to the game (the very first time you run), but it should be smoother from then on. This is particularly true on ATI cards.

Max FPS Cap

On some CPU/GPU configurations, setting Max FPS to 60 or 30 was not giving 60 or 30 FPS (causing stuttering). This has been fixed.

Radeon 6xxx

Added support for this GPU, which doesn't support OpenGL 4.5 fully.

Save Corruption

Solution to try to prevent saves getting corrupted no matter what’s going on in background processes (see Patch 3 below, where we also are attempting to recover corrupted saves).

Intel GPU Detection

We do not currently support Intel GPUS. We are working on this for a future patch, to expand our min spec.

In the meantime, the game will now let you know if you are trying to run with an unsupported GPU. This will hopefully flag for some users that their high end GPU has not been selected.

Gsync

Gsync has been disabled by default, which was causing an issue for some users

Mouse Smoothing

Generally this is most helpful for players with sub-30 FPS.

Smoothing on mouse movement has been improved to prevent hitching or stuttering, and is now adjustable through the Options menu in “Mouse Smoothing”.

It defaults to off. If you feel micro stutters in framerate affecting controls, feel free to turn this up. If you feel the framerate is "slow" or "lumpy", please make sure that this is turned off

Patch 2

For patch 2 our focus was on the most reported bugs or crashes. Our aim was to improve stability, and make sure player’s saves are safe in future.

Stuck under the world

It was possible for players to save their game stuck under the terrain, leaving them stuck. This was caused by getting shot down in atmosphere, and their ship reaching ridiculous speeds as it crashed to the planet. This has been resolved.

Whilst it won't happen anymore, if you are currently already stuck under the world, we detect this and do our best to rescue you.

Crash after warping

Occasionally at random the game would lock up after a warp, or return to desktop. This was due to very specific timing in hardware (a threading specific bug) – meaning that unfortunately for some people it was regular, and for others they would never be able to recreate it. This was our most reported crash during gameplay, and has now been resolved.

Game failing to save until you died

If the player died, and then loaded the game ten times without saving, and then died, player progress wouldn’t be saved from then on until you died again. This is fixed now! This was also causing player’s saves to grow in size.

Crash fixes in scanning

Quite a rare crash, but in certain scenarios it was possible to scan from space or on planet and crash the game.

Crash warping inside a freighter

When warping into a battle sometimes the player warped into the inside of a freighter and everything went crazy :(

This is fixed now.

Patch 3

Patch 3 is targeted at our next most common support requests, fixing the next most common crashes, as well as trying to help players who have become stranded or have corrupted their save files.

Stranded in Space Station

If you died in your ship while in atmosphere of a planet with a damaged ship, you could respawn in a space station with your launch thrusters and pulse engine damaged. If you did not have the resources to fix them then you could no longer take off and be stuck there. This will no longer happen.

Loading Corrupted Save Files

Some players have corrupted save files, we’ve been working with them to still load saves even if they are corrupted (this can happen for many reasons outside of the games control). This fix has allowed many players to still load their save even if they have become corrupt on PC.

Crash fixes for next three most commonly reported issues:

- As the player gathers a huge amount of discoveries, there was a threading issue that becomes more prevalent the more discoveries you have, and could cause the game to crash.

- If you had collected a large number of blueprints, in a specific order it was possible to crash the game when you received a new blueprint. This has been fixed.

- Players who set a large number of waypoints could find themselves in a situation where they could crash the game in the Galactic Map, this is remedied now (PS. A better waypoint system is coming).

Senior Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 22, 2016 7:20 AM

    Daniel Perez posted a new article, Hello Games releases multiple No Man's Sky PC patches over the weekend

    • reply
      August 22, 2016 8:04 AM

      For 60$ price tag they better keep working weekends until they have the game they falsely advertised. Oh but wait some people like it... so i guess they don't have to deliver on what the promised.

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        August 22, 2016 8:37 AM

        tell'em steve-dave

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        August 22, 2016 8:40 AM

        Oh so Sean Murray pinky-swear'd after every interview with you, too?

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          August 22, 2016 10:20 AM

          This is unreasonable and you know it.

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            August 22, 2016 1:10 PM

            I'm speaking generally to the notion that a developer talking about their games in pre-release interviews constitutes "promises." Really naive way of looking at software development.

            I don't disagree that there was some egregious bullshotting and Molyneux-esque vagueness from the devs.

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              August 22, 2016 10:39 PM

              Most of it was an interviewers asking if X or Y was possible and he says yes. He seemed to either not really know what his game was or he had a hard time saying no to people and rather please them by avoiding the N word.

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          August 22, 2016 1:56 PM

          Talking about you game in public for the purpose of advertising is important. You should lie about what is included in the game. Shawn Murray lied about No Man's Sky content over and over. BUT again if you mildly like the game you don't care about what isn't there that was advertised.

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            August 22, 2016 2:07 PM

            I doubt he ever seriously lied or intended to 'deceive', except maybe this dumb vagueness recently about multiplayer, he should certainly address that.

            He seems naive. But he's been at this long enough to where he shouldn't be so naive.

            They should've been more transparent about the final product as it got closer to release, but there's no way a studio or publisher would ever shoot themselves in the foot by messing with the kind of momentum No Man's Sky had.

            Oh well, games change. Not really that huge a deal IMO.

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              August 22, 2016 2:27 PM

              The multiplayer bullshit is just the most glaring, dude said you "other players can see you". That is a lie. It's not in the game at all. There is no multiplayer period, it was removed from the packing, and yet Shawn has never said publicly that there is no multiplayer. Shawn has never said multiplayer was in game at some point but was removed for release because of x y z.

              I think Hello Games needs to do some REAL PR if they want to keep making games that sell well. They need real PR saying what they are going to add to NMS that Shawn advertised and what will never be added. That might help them save face with the consumer. If they just ignore the issue, Hello Games is going to lose out on future sales.

              I don't want Shawn imprisoned or forced to work 24/7 to make it all better, just to admit where he oversold and didn't deliver. This shit is borderline class actionable, maybe that's why he's so mum about it.

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        August 22, 2016 8:42 AM

        Entitled much?

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          August 22, 2016 8:59 AM

          For people who feel they were misled and paid $60 for a game they didn't feel was complete? Yeah, they probably do feel entitled, as they should.

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            August 22, 2016 9:01 AM

            They could all return it and get a refund. I have no sympathy for those who keep playing, and bitch about it.

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              August 22, 2016 9:02 AM

              Do tell how I can return my PS4 digital purchase, cause Sony said "LOL"

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                August 22, 2016 9:07 AM

                You can't refund PSN purchases? That sucks.

                Of course, that's not Hello Games fault.

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            August 22, 2016 9:08 AM

            Reviews and refunds were both readily available.

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            August 22, 2016 9:47 AM

            If only they waited for reviews.

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            August 22, 2016 9:48 AM

            [deleted]

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              August 22, 2016 10:00 AM

              Oh please, it was almost two weeks for some major outlets to release a full review (a lot of people did a rolling review, updating it every day or so as they played longer). Yes, when people are excited about a game they will go out and buy it when it's available. Shocking, I know. It doesn't change the fact that they felt they were seriously misled.

              Lol @ not having patience tho. If you buy a new game day one you're an idiot, but if you go see that super awesome looking new movie at a midnight release showing you're just a big fan.

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              August 22, 2016 2:13 PM

              In a market where the publishers push with every ounce of strength they have to get you to pre-purchase? Kinda yeah.

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          August 22, 2016 1:59 PM

          Pointing out that NMS is a bait and switch is not entitlement. Hello Games is working overtime because they feel guilty as hell for selling a early release game at $60. Let their guilt be put to good use finishing the game.

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            August 22, 2016 2:02 PM

            You are entitled demanding they work on weekends just because you spent $60. I sure hope they don't, I can wait for some bugfix or feature. They've probably been in crunch mode for last couple of months at least, I sure hope they have a chance to get a breather now.

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              August 22, 2016 2:29 PM

              It was a joke! FFS. If they are working now it's out of GUILT for lying about how finished their game is, and perhaps feeling shitty the game was forced out too early.

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          August 23, 2016 4:13 AM

          Lazy counter argument

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        August 22, 2016 9:09 AM

        Not having followed their promises, what are you referring to? I've heard that the game doesn't run well on PC and has some pretty glaring technical bugs, which absolutely need to be fixed, but apart from that what?

        From what I've seen, they seem to have delivered the experience they've been talking about - procedural exploration with minimal driving force (plot) and some combat.

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          August 22, 2016 9:16 AM

          People wanted Star Citizen, in a nearly infinite universe.

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          August 22, 2016 9:19 AM

          [deleted]

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            August 22, 2016 9:22 AM

            such as?

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              August 22, 2016 9:38 AM

              [deleted]

              • reply
                August 22, 2016 9:43 AM

                At a minimum predators will chase and kill other animals (who will try to escape).

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                  August 22, 2016 9:53 AM

                  [deleted]

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                    August 22, 2016 2:18 PM

                    The "backed turn spawns" are jokeshop. The Sentinals spawn this way as well, making it SUPER easy to run from them every time. NMS is 10-20$ early access quality and it shows over and over.

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                August 22, 2016 9:44 AM

                They do interact with each other, some species prey on others.

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              August 22, 2016 9:59 AM

              Space combat with wingmen, factions, combat on the planet with wingmen, more freedom to fly around on the planet, complex fauna AI, taking out pirates for bounties, a ton more AI ships in space, trade convoys, long draw distance and lack of fog, large-scale space battles.

              Watch the trailer yourself, you can see it's a different game than what we've seen at release. Which wouldn't be a big deal except they're still using it to market the game with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLtmEjqzg7M

        • reply
          August 22, 2016 9:34 AM

          [deleted]

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            August 22, 2016 9:43 AM

            I saw someone comment in another one of the NMS threads that the game feels like an indie game that Sony latched onto and forced into the AAA status, and from what I hear that is a good description.

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              August 22, 2016 10:04 AM

              Yep, that's precisely the issue. NMS as an early access title on Steam for $20 that continued to grow and develop with more content would've been a huge success and praised for years. NMS as a finished product with AAA backing, AAA marketing and hype, and AAA pricetag is a disappointing failure.

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          August 22, 2016 9:42 AM

          Now I don't really have a dog in this fight, but here:

          https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/4y1h9i/wheres_the_no_mans_sky_we_were_sold_on_a_big_list/

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            August 22, 2016 10:15 AM

            I was waiting for this list to get posted.

            The game is not what they originally hoped it would be. Hello Games made some changes and design choices over time in order to get it out the door or make the game better (in their mind).

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              August 22, 2016 10:51 AM

              I can somewhat understand if they had to pare down a feature they were talking about 2 years ago...but they were talking about features 6 months ago that aren't in the game. I don't understand how people can defend that.

              It's even more recent as a month before release...

              Here's a quote from that link.
              The most recent promo material from July, the four pillars videos released just a month before launch, are all using new footage from that same old build of the game that very clearly does not represent the one people can buy. That footage is still being used to sell this game even now, and it's no better than what Sega did with Aliens: Colonial Marines.

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                August 22, 2016 11:10 AM

                The E3 2014 trailer is essentially the game I play. I'm not sure what else is your point of reference.

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                  August 22, 2016 1:06 PM

                  Did you actually read the list? That's the point of reference. There are videos, audio clips, all sourced that properly documents the promised/hyped features that aren't actually in the game.

                  I'm not trying to take away the fun that you're having from the game. You are entitled to have as much fun as you want, but at a strictly factual level they didn't deliver on a lot of promised features.

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                    August 22, 2016 1:22 PM

                    I am not going to go through the list point by point, but several of the things that he claims are not in the game are in the game, just not experienced regularly. Also, I have no problem with trusting that just because something hasn't been seen yet in this game doesn't mean it is not there at all. I will concede that some of the things promised do not appear in the game (flight near a planet surface is unnecessarily simplified). I expect this from game development, so I am not bothered by it.

                    Really, what this boils down to is a lot of people had an expectation of this game that was a lot more Star Citizen and a lot less Microsoft Space Exploration Simulator.

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                      August 22, 2016 1:32 PM

                      He does a pretty good job of noting where he was incorrect, but there still are a lot of features just missing.

                      You make a solid point though, most people were thinking that this was super space exploration simulator. Is that really on them? Or is that on the marketing team, the price of the game, or on Sean for what he said? If it was a minority, then one could reasonably say that it's obvious the developers got the proper message through, and those people were over hyped for no reasonable explaination. Unfortunately though, it's the majority that feel they have been "hoodwinked". The onus is on the developer, and publisher in that case.

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                        August 22, 2016 2:00 PM

                        It's really not a very good list. A huge amount of it is still "this isn't as complex as I wanted" or "I haven't personally seen it, therefore it doesn't exist". A good chunk of what's left is, frankly, pretty minor.

                        The game has some significant problems, but that list mostly comes off as tantrum throwing.

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                          August 22, 2016 2:16 PM

                          I'll give you that. I personally haven't played the game, but it's certainly interesting seeing the fervor from some of the fans. Good and bad, and seeing where it ends up balancing out.

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                        August 22, 2016 2:15 PM

                        Fwiw, I flatly reject any criticism of this game based on price. It's irrelevant to the discussion.

                        Sean was very communicative about what they wanted to do with NMS. I have a very hard time being mad at a dev for being that open. Any weird expectations that were created by that openness are down to the audience, imo.

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                          August 22, 2016 10:45 PM

                          It's priced the same as other AAA games, if it was a $15-20 indie price game then it would have more leeway.

                          Recore on XB1 come out in a few weeks for $40. I want to play that one and I know it's not quite a full price AAA game but it certainly looks more developed than a $20 title.

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              August 22, 2016 5:12 PM

              It's called game development.

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          August 22, 2016 2:04 PM

          There are plenty of youtube videos clearly showing Shawn Murray talking to press, advertising features that aren't in the game, lying about what the game is/will be at release. Not once did he officially retract his statements before release clarifying that didn't make it into the final release.

          If game developers aren't held accountable for this bullshit, anything goes man.

          If you or I say we are going to do something at our jobs and don't do it, what the fuck happens? We get nailed for it that's what.

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            August 22, 2016 10:48 PM

            As far as I can see, it's mostly the Interviewer asking if a certain thing is possible and he goes along with it and says yes. He seems like the kind of person who is afraid to say no or disappoint people. He probably took note of those ideas to implement later but adding stuff during development isn't a good idea.

            There is one bit in the Angry Joe Review where he does say that you have factions in space battling it out and you can jump in and how there's going to be an economy system of ships ferrying goods which isn't in the game as it is and what they showed in demos.

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        August 22, 2016 9:18 AM

        lol, 60 dollar demands they keep working weekends? What the hell. I sometimes really dislike people in the gaming community.

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          August 22, 2016 9:23 AM

          Right? Fuck devs personal lives!!

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          August 22, 2016 1:48 PM

          The fact they're supporting the game as they are should be appreciated. At least they're quickly addressing issues instead of having dumped it and run.

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        August 22, 2016 9:23 AM

        [deleted]

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        August 22, 2016 9:24 AM

        Bazinga

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        August 22, 2016 9:25 AM

        On cue.

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        August 22, 2016 9:46 AM

        [deleted]

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        August 22, 2016 10:09 AM

        Don't be that guy. We know you don't like the game. It's ok.

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        August 22, 2016 1:13 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        August 22, 2016 10:45 PM

        Or you could learn to stop pre-ordering games and wait for reviews.

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      August 22, 2016 10:17 AM

      Pre-orders. Not even once twice (I did do BFBC2 after a after playing a month of that one map "Valdez"(?), so I knew basically what I was buying).

    • reply
      August 22, 2016 1:45 PM

      Shack is so weird about this game. You would think some of you actually worked on it and had to divorce your wives and abandon your children while working 23 hour days to finish it. Other people act like the game took a personal shit in every bowl of cheerios they have ever eaten.

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      August 22, 2016 1:54 PM

      I don't do the youtube personality thing but i had that angry joe dude on in the background last night and it was pretty funny.

      I had to FF like 15 mins (who the fuck make a 36 min review??) but once he starts going over the game, he has the Ace Attorney OBJECTION or simply calls bullshit on like 238947439802 diff things. i'll see if i can find it again.

    • reply
      August 22, 2016 2:17 PM

      While I think there's value in the discussion being had about expectations and pre-release hype the thing that's being missed about this game for me is that what was delivered just isn't that good. I had pretty low expectations and the time I spent with the game was just not that fun. There were hints at brilliance but in the end it was tedious traversal between one of 5 different base types, limited variation between locales beyond simple pallet swaps and lackluster combat. Telling me that was all procedurally generated does nothing to make it any more fun.

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      August 22, 2016 2:29 PM

      anyone know what the sales numbers are for this game minus refunds?

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        August 22, 2016 2:30 PM

        well i guess noone will ever publish the refund numbers... but i wonder if they will factor that in when they do announce the sales #'s..

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          August 22, 2016 3:46 PM

          The sales number will be off the charts for this game. With the amount of hype for the game I'm sure there were tons of pre-orders and I doubt a substantial number of PC players stopped playing before the refund cutoff.

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        August 22, 2016 10:52 PM

        The trending news bar on Facebook said sales for the game in the second week took a nose dive in the UK for the PS4 version.

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