5 popular console games with disappointing PC ports

PC ports allow video games designed for consoles to run on desktop and portable computers. However, porting a game from one platform to another is not a simple process. Some of them have so many elements that it takes a very long time and a lot of work to port them from one platform to another. This causes problems for the developers, who are sometimes required to release the game before it is ready due to time constraints.

There are some success stories in the history of PC ports, such as God of War. However, there are also several popular console games that have disappointed audiences.

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Popular console games with disappointing PC ports

1) Batman Arkham Knight

PC ports for Arkham Knight were disappointing (Image via Rocksteady Studios)

As usual with games in the Batman saga, the popularity of Arkham Knight was immediate. However, beyond the quality of this title, it became known for how bad its PC port was.

The game suffered from performance issues, such as FPS drops that slowed down the action. This was coupled with moments of stuttering and freezing. Apart from this, the resolution was limited to 1080p, and the textures and effects were of low quality.

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2) GTA IV

The case of GTA IV and Rockstar is probably one of the most famous. This is not only because of the disastrous PC port but also because Rockstar recently issued a re-release of their first games, and many believe that the quality was worse than what was seen a decade ago.

GTA IV had a very poor PC port that left many fans disappointed. The game required a lot of hardware power to run properly but still had optimization issues such as FPS drops, stuttering, and tearing. The game also had bugs and startup glitches that made it unplayable at times.

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3) Dark Souls

Some PC ports make the gaming experience worse (Image via From Software)

There is no doubt about the importance of Dark Souls in the history of video games. However, its trajectory is tainted by the disastrous PC port that disappointed many of its fans.

From Software's extremely difficult action RPG was ported to PC with substandard resolution, bugs everywhere, and very poor optimization. The game was locked to 30 FPS and 1024x720 resolution, making it look blurry and pixelated. It also had problems with keyboard and mouse control, which was very imprecise and uncomfortable. Apart from these, there were also bugs that affected sound and saving.

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4) Spider-Man 2 (2004)

The textures were awful in Spiderman's PC ports (Image via Sony)

Spider-Man 2 was an action-adventure game based on the 2004 film of the same name, released for PS2, Xbox, and GameCube, and later for PC. It was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision.

However, the PC port of Spider-Man 2 had many technical issues that affected the experience. For instance, the game had a maximum resolution of 800x600 pixels, which made the graphics look blurry and pixelated.

In addition, it had a very low and unstable frame rate, which could drop as low as 10 FPS in some areas. The game also had sound bugs, such as dialog that was cut off or repeated or effects that were out of sync with the action.

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5) Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Survivor is one of the recent PC ports that failed (Image via Respawn)

Apart from movies and streaming platforms, the Star Wars franchise has established a presence in the world of video games. In fact, one of the most anticipated games this year was Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to Fallen Order.

However, gamers' excitement over its PC port quickly turned into disappointment over the avalanche of bugs. The fluidity of the game was so bad that EA even apologized to players. The game does not use the full power of the GPU, scenes are jumpy, FPS suddenly drops, and sometimes it is necessary to restart the game to play normally. Even changing the graphics options in the menu to enable raytracing could cause the game to crash.

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That was our list of popular games whose PC ports were disappointing. If you want to read something similar, we recommend our article on what makes Baldur's Gate 3 different from other RPGs on the market.