The debate rages on about the quality of pre-release games testing, and today it received a fresh kick up its forum-based arse as the developer for Test Drive Unlimited 2 was forced into an apology for the game’s many bugs. Atari / Eden Games have issued a statement to say soz and, seemingly recognising the extent of the problems, they have even agreed to release the first DLC – a comprehensive premium pack including new cars – for free.
The debate on games testing has been sparked by what seems to be an increasing need for games to be patched multiple times to fix errors in the weeks, or even, months after their release. With both Xbox and PS3 now linked full time to the web, it’s become an easy band-aid for those publishers who are keen to hit the market with their latest release – even if errors remain.
Gamers are frustrated that problems aren’t ironed out in testing – especially with bigger glitches that cause full scale crashes. Developers meanwhile have been adamant that even thorough testing can’t account for every problem as games become increasingly complex. Judge for yourself with TDU2 – should these problems have been allowed out in a full-price, brand new game? Today’s announcement seems to be a shot in the arm for the “more-testing” camp – though either way, it’s just nice to see some DLC without the rip-off price tag (hint hint Capcom!!)
The full apology was released in an open letter, as below.
To the TDU2 community,
Thank you for your continued support and feedback. Our community has been amazing and helped us quickly identify a number of issues, which we have made significant progress in addressing in the upcoming patches.
We really appreciate your patience in this matter and we would like to announce that we will be making the first premium DLC for the game free for everybody as a way of saying thank you.
The Exploration Pack contains new wrecks to be discovered that unlock the Lancia Stratos version Rallye and 1969 Dodge Charger.
We now have fixes for all of the following issues that have already gone live on PC and will follow shortly once patches are approved by Microsoft and Sony, respectively.
Issues Fixed:
*Logging into the game has been improved
*Once into the game the online network experience is now much more stable in all areas
*Save games no longer corrupt
*Existing corrupted save games will be repaired in many cases
*Friends lists are now populated
*Invites now work correctly
*Clubs have been brought back online
*Exploits to gain money have been fixed
*Casino access has been improved
*Players will no longer lose money because of the Casino bug
The team spends a great deal of time looking at community feedback, so please keep posting your comments to the official TDU2 forums and we look forward to seeing you in Ibiza.
Sincerely,
The TDU2 Development Team