On June 23 of this year, Warner Brothers and Rocksteady Interactive launched Batman: Arkham Knight on the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. While the console versions of the game worked fine and players enjoyed the exploits of The Dark Knight on the chaotic streets of Gotham, PC owners were left disappointed due to countless bugs and glitches that rendered the game almost unplayable. The reason behind this debacle was the fact that Rocksteady and Warner had outsourced the porting process of the game to a tiny third-party studio that messed things up big time.
Now, five months on, things are not looking any better for Arkham Knight. The game was already taken off the Steam marketplace because of how broken it was and even after several huge patches, the game still remains unplayable. This is why Warner Brothers announced that everyone who purchased the game will be receiving a full refund including the Season Pass for all those who bought it, regardless of the time spent in game.
It is indeed an unprecedented step. For the first time in a long time, a company is willing to admit a mistake and is trying to make amends. While this may also seem like Warner Brothers Interactive is waving the white flag and simply giving up on the PC port, it is not so. The company, in an accompanying statement said they remain committed to “giving the finished product that PC gamers deserved” and will continue to strive to achieve that irrespective of the refund. Hopefully, they will be able to pull off the seemingly impossible and make the game as good as its console counterparts.
