Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is delayed on PC

Low frame rate and memory leaks lead to a PC version of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA being postponed to an as-of-yet indeterminate date. The developers offer a refund option to all players who have pre-ordered the game on Steam.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is delayed on PC
Publisher NIS America regrets delaying the game's launch on PC.

"We have a very regrettable announcement: we are once again pushing the release to an as-of-yet indeterminate date. We sincerely apologize for this delay. This decision was not made lightly, and we understand that many of you will be upset about this news. For that, and most importantly, for the delay, we are very sorry.

They continue on with details about their approach to porting Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA from PS4 to PC and the reasoning behind the delay. 

Low framerate issues and memory leak problems were apparent from the earliest PC builds we received. To help combat these, we looked into the drawing processes, which lead to an overall improvement in performance. However, we are still encountering framerate drops in specific circumstances. The systems regulating these framerate issues are heavily reliant on the architecture of the original PlayStation 4 version and, as such, are not existent in PC architecture. The memory leak issues are somewhat less complicated and expected to be resolved this weekend. But in order to solve these issues, we have determined that we must modify the core level of data in the game.

Originally developed for PS4, Lacrimosa of DANA has released on PS Vita and PS4 with a great success. The game was well-received with localization being the only major problem. This is to be fixed later this year. The relocalization update patch planned on January 30 for PS Vita and PS4, and it won't be affected by the PC version delay. You can check our PS4 review for more info on the PS4 release. 

The rest of the official statement by Mitsuharu Hiraoka, VP and COO of NIS America, explains the issue more.
As the PC version of the game was originally envisioned as a port, we avoided touching the core programming as much as possible and focused on PC performance optimization. However, in light of the feedback of those who have participated in the second beta test, we have concluded that we cannot avoid modifying the core programming.

Once the changes from the relocalization efforts have been implemented at the end of this month, we will be moving development to an entirely different developer who will primarily focus on frame rate improvements as well as other PC optimizations. Once that process begins, we will monitor the progress and determine the release schedule. We will also be sure to give regular updates to our progress.

Again, we truly regret that we underestimated the severity of the issues that have surfaced (and how long it would take to resolve them), and for that, NIS America sincerely apologizes to all of you for this unexpected delay. We are fully aware of how much our fans have been anticipating this release, and will do our very best to launch the game the way it is meant to be launched: without any issues, game-breaking bugs, or errors.

If you have made a pre-purchase on Steam and would like a refund due to this delay, please use the official Steam guide.

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