Guess what everyone? It’s that time of the year. And oh I know that a lot of you have been waiting for this. The following games really let us down (tech-wise), and we consider them to be the worst-optimized games that came out on PC in 2023.
But what do we consider a badly optimized PC game? In our opinion, a game that is not optimized for the PC is one that cannot scale well on multiple CPU cores, that is plagued by ‘console-ish’ side effects (like really low FOV, controller-only on-screen indicators, awful K&M controls and mouse acceleration/smoothing issues). We also take into account the stuttering issues that affected a lot of PC games in 2023. Furthermore, a game that does not justify its CPU/GPU requirements, or one that cannot scale on older PC hardware is also a game that falls on this list.
Do also note that we judge the latest version of the games and not their launch version. And yes, we’ve reinstalled and replayed all of the games that came out in 2023. So, spoiler alert. You won’t find below The Last of Us Part I, Forspoken, Gotham Knights, or Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. All of these games run SIGNIFICANTLY better than their launch versions. Oh, and we won’t include any Early Access games. So, don’t expect to see The Day Before or ARK: Survival Ascended.
Lastly, this list is in random order. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at them.
Wanted: Dead was a game I was really looking forward to. However, it launched with numerous issues on PC. And sadly, Soliel hasn’t fixed any of them. The game still relies heavily on one CPU core/thread which means that older CPUs may encounter performance issues. Not only that but there are still major shader compilation stutters. And yes, there are still a few traversal stutters. Using the keyboard and mouse to navigate the menus is also a pain. On top of that, the graphics settings on PC are very basic. Man, what a letdown.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was one of the worst games of 2023. It was also an ugly game with average 3D models for its characters and dated lighting. Ironically, this game used Ray Tracing but even with its RT effects, it still looked bad. Oh, and let’s not forget its annoying stuttering issues.
This right here may be the worst-optimized PC game of 2023. WILD HEARTS was a huge technical disappointment on PC. The game still has MAJOR stuttering issues, and the mouse movement still feels weird. Plus, WILD HEARTS’ graphics do not justify their high GPU requirements. Just stay away from it, plain and simple.
I’m really bummed to include Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty in this list as it was one of my favorite PC games of 2023. Honestly, it was one of the games I loved playing. However, it still has a lot of tech issues on PC. There are still traversal stutters and optimization issues. Team Ninja has been working hard to fix bugs and add new stuff, and I have to give them credit for that. And, to be honest, its gameplay is top-notch. However, I could only enjoy it because I have a high-end PC. Technically, it was a huge letdown. But that’s to be expected from KOEI Tecmo and Team Ninja.
Immortals of Aveum was one of the first games to use Unreal Engine 5. And while, for the most part, it’s looking great, it cannot scale on older PC hardware. Ascendant Studios has released a few patches to improve the game’s performance. However, even on Low settings, it still requires a powerful GPU. And that’s the big difference between Immortals of Aveum and all the other UE5-powered games. Layers of Fear, Remnant 2 and Lords of The Fallen have better settings, allowing them to properly scale down on older GPUs. And then we have some annoying stuttering issues.
Remember when I said that WILD HEARTS was the worst-optimized PC game of 2023? Well, somehow, I’d completely forgotten about Cities Skylines 2. Ironic, isn’t it? Although to be fair, Colossal Order has released a couple of optimization patches for it. Despite that, though, Cities Skylines 2 remains a technical mess on PC.
And there you have it. Those were the Worst Optimized PC games of 2023!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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