Stranded Deep's PC Version is Getting Left Behind | Game Rant
Not too long ago, Stranded Deep finally got an official release on console. Though many PS4 and Xbox One users were excited about the launch of the hardcore survival simulator, the PC community has not been quite as thrilled. The reason for this reaction is embroiled in years of history between this game and the PC community on Steam, and has resulted in the once mostly positive reviews being overtaken by a flood of negative reviews from angry PC users. For those not well versed in the game's history on Steam, it can be difficult to understand why this is happening.
For the uninitiated, Stranded Deep has been in early access on Steam for over 5 years now, and many of the loyal PC fans have been waiting this half decade for an official release. Though updates and changes were made frequently to the game, the PC version didn't and still hasn't received an official version 1.0 release. As such, PC users were understandably irked when the console version on PS4 and Xbox One was announced for official release despite the same treatment not coming to PC. This is still just the surface of PC users' complaints, as the issues run far deeper than this.
It is worth noting that the negativity isn't to the extreme of review-bombing but are understandable complaints about its method of development.
One of the chief issues that Steam users have with the decision to release a 1.0 version of Stranded Deep on console before PC is that there are several features that were promised to PC users that they never got. Though the console version of Stranded Deep lacks multiplayer entirely, even the PC version's split screen is incredibly unreliable. Perhaps worse than that though is that for five years the PC version has had no storyline or opportunity for players to be rescued from the ocean, a feature which was added for the console release.
This has led to two main schools of thought. Many PC users believe that Beam Team Games has simply ported an incomplete work to console, but those that have played the console versions can verify that this isn't true. There is an ending to the game and the systems are flushed out for the most part. That isn't to say that things won't change, just that the game is complete. The second school of thought is perhaps worse, as many PC players feel as though they were used for cheap labor in the form of game testers and for funding, paying $15 for the early access game and aiding in its development only to be abandoned for console when the time came for the official release.
This is the true crux of the problem. If PC players had been taking part in some sort of open beta that didn't have a paywall, it is likely that many wouldn't be as upset about the development. As one Steam review puts it, PC players' money was put into console ports. Because of the heavy focus on the console port in the last year or two, the Steam version has received very little in the way of content updates, mostly minor hot fixes that didn't amount to much. It seems clear that a console release has become the developer's primary goal.
Though PC users are understandably upset, there may be hope that the game will get a 1.0 release on PC. In that case, those players that already play the early access version should be able to play the full game for free. Given that all of the systems are ironed out in the console version, it seems like most of the guesswork involved with making a 1.0 PC release has been taken out and it is just a matter of time before Beam Team Games gets around to it. That said, Beam Team Games has not commented on the status of the PC version since the console version's release.
Stranded Deep is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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