Risk of Rain 2’s New DLC Faces Backlash Over Pricing and Performance Issues
Risk of Rain 2 fans have had a rough week following the release of the game’s first DLC under Gearbox, titled Seekers of the Storm. Unfortunately, the launch has been met with widespread disappointment, with the DLC currently sitting at just 21% positive reviews on Steam. The backlash stems not just from the content itself, but primarily from a regional pricing controversy and serious performance issues affecting all players.
Pricing and Performance Woes
One of the biggest issues that triggered the backlash is a pricing anomaly, which saw the DLC’s price double in certain regions. Players in these markets felt unfairly targeted, leading to a surge of negative reviews. Compounding the frustration, a major update that accompanied the DLC also introduced performance issues and bugs across the PC version of Risk of Rain 2, meaning that even players who did not purchase Seekers of the Storm found their gameplay experience hampered.
The situation has sparked widespread criticism of Gearbox, the publisher that took over the Risk of Rain series from its original developer, Hopoo Games. However, some of the original developers have weighed in, expressing both understanding of the fans’ frustrations and sympathy for the Gearbox team.
Original Developers Speak Out
On August 30, Risk of Rain co-creator Duncan Drummond took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to comment on the situation. Drummond acknowledged the frustration fans are feeling but also sympathized with the Gearbox developers who have found themselves in the middle of the controversy.
“It sucks for the fans, who lost functionality for the game they love,” Drummond wrote. “It also sucks for the developers at GBX, who are probably under a ton of stress and can’t really celebrate the win of launching a new DLC. We still believe that Gearbox is heading in the right direction and that they have every intention of fixing issues & listening to feedback.”
Risk of Rain 2 programmer Jeffrey Hunt also shared his thoughts, expressing empathy for the developers at Gearbox. Speaking to PCGamesN, Hunt said, “I think that the team working on the DLC did the best they could with what time and resources they were given, which isn’t a stretch to guess wasn’t enough.”
Both Drummond and Hunt expressed confidence in Gearbox’s commitment to resolving the problems, pointing out that the team behind the previous Survivors of the Void DLC had also done solid work, especially with the new stages.
Gearbox Responds to the Feedback
In response to the uproar, Gearbox has pledged to address the community’s biggest complaints. On August 30, the company posted a development diary detailing their top priorities: fixing the bugs and performance issues introduced with the latest update. The post included a comprehensive list of the issues that have been identified, along with plans to roll out patches to improve the PC version’s stability.
While the long-term future of Risk of Rain under Gearbox remains uncertain, the company’s quick response to the feedback suggests that they are committed to rectifying the situation. As work on Seekers of the Storm continues, players are hopeful that the game will return to form with the upcoming fixes.
A Hard Situation for Fans and Developers Alike
Ultimately, the release of Seekers of the Storm has been a difficult experience for both fans and developers. For Gearbox, the task now is to rebuild the trust of the Risk of Rain community by swiftly addressing the issues that have arisen, while delivering on the potential that the new DLC was supposed to bring. Fans, meanwhile, will be watching closely to see how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks.
