The early access launch of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown has disappointingly been plagued with server issues for the always-online game, as Nacon and developer KT Racing… race to find fixes to get the game’s server capacity solidified for the full launch on 12th September.
The studio has issued a statement on Steam explaining the issues and the steps being taken to remedy the situation:
Since the official server launch today at 08:00 AM UTC, many players have encountered severe connection issues with the game, mainly with login, lobbies, and various online features. These issues applies to all platforms: PC (Steam), PS5 & Xbox Series X|S.
Our teams are working tirelessly to stabilize the servers so that everyone can enjoy the game as soon as possible. To give you more context on the current situation, we have tried multiple solutions to address these network issues:
- Our server team has actively investigated the root causes of connection failures.
- We have implemented server optimizations to handle the high volume of players trying to access the game.
- We have increased server capacity to reduce queues and connection failures.
- Our quality assurance team has conducted thorough tests to ensure the stability of our fixes before deploying them.
Although each solution has helped partially, some of them have also introduced new technical challenges.
We are actively working to resolve all the network issues and thank you again for your patience.
The issues were already a factor before this public launch, blocking us from reviewing the game as maintenance affected all journalists’ ability to play the game on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a separate bug and issue blocked us specifically before then.
A queueing system is currently in place for the game, noting around 1,600 players waiting on PS5 tonight, which gradually ticks down, and then in our case led to getting kicked out to a more general ‘Login Error’ screen. SteamDB notes a peak player count on PC of 4,300 – this will simply be a total of players with the client open, so it’s not clear how many are actively able to play.
All of this is a pretty serious issue, and one that immediately has fans of the series and early buyers either turning around and requesting refunds, or banging the drum over the game’s always-online requirement. This would not have been such an issue with an offline play option, though that obviously has consequences for the game’s internal economy and progression.
Another potential factor is that developers have been going on strike against publisher Nacon in the last couple weeks, organising under the union banner of Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (SJV). RPG developer Spiders went on strike last week, and on Monday they were joined by colleageues at Kylotonn, who complained:
“Management regularly brings up the studios’ supposed independence, but every demand we make gets rejected with the argument that there should be coherence within the Nacon group. Much in the same way, negotiations are hampered under the same pretense.
“If no improvement in our working conditions is offered because “it would drive other studios within the group to ask for the same”, it stands to reason then that we make those demands together.”
Nacon has entered into discussions with workers already last week, but complaints have not yet been fully addressed, and further strikes could potentially hamper Solar Crown’s launch.
All in all, it seems like a difficult time at KT Racing right now. We hope that they’re able to resolve the server issues soon, and also that negotiations with workers company-wide are able to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
