Despite critical acclaim, Elden Ring is currently 'mixed' on Steam

elden ring
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Despite receiving critical acclaim and cementing itself one of the highest-rated games of all time, Elden Ring has been having a rough time on Steam. The game is currently sitting at a mixed rating with 60% of its 19,000 user reviews being positive.

It's all down to the squiffy performance PC players have been dealing with. It's something Tyler also grappled with in his Elden Ring review, though the hopes were that a day one patch would fix the issues. While it did squash some of the early build's major bugs, players are still experiencing major framerate drops, stuttering, crashes and screen tearing.

Complaints about poor optimisation are happening across both positive and negative reviews, with one Steam review summarising it as "Elden Ring runs like liquid ass," while another review called it a "typical FromSoftware PC port." Players also lamented the addition of Easy Anti-Cheat which makes modding fixes for these things more difficult.

Controller input also appears to be mighty sporadic, with one review claiming it only works "80% of the time." It's not exactly clear what's causing the problem, though we've put together a few fixes if Elden Ring isn't recognising your controller. While it's a choice than a bug, reviews have also lamented the 60fps cap and lack of ultrawide support.

On the other hand, many have reported a smooth experience and very few issues while playing. It seems pretty random as to who deals with the issues. A friend of mine who recently installed some pretty beefy upgrades has been dealing with some intense stuttering issues, which he said was making bosses "literally unbeatable." However, some Steam reviews are reporting little-to-no issues on midrange rigs, so it seems like a case of your mileage may vary.

Poor optimisation had been a worry in the run-up to Elden Ring's release—between FromSoftware's track record and suspiciously beefy minimum specs, it was already expected that some players may end up having a hard time getting a smooth experience. While we've got some recommended settings for Elden Ring to help that happen, it might be a case of waiting for future patches before PC players can experience the game in its best form.

In fact, just as I finish writing this, a brief update has been provided on the current state of the PC version. A small news post on Bandai Namco's website acknowledges the frame rate and Easy Anti-Cheat issues, writing: "We will be constantly working to improve the game so that it can be played comfortably on various PC environments and platforms."

Elden Ring guide: Elden Ring bosses: Elden Ring dungeons: Elden Ring paintings: Elden Ring map fragments:Elden Ring co-op:

Elden Ring guideConquer the Lands Between
Elden Ring bossesHow to beat them
Elden Ring dungeonsHow to defeat them
Elden Ring paintingsSolutions and locations
Elden Ring map fragments: Reveal the world
Elden Ring co-op: How to squad up online

TOPICS
Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.  

Read more
Two rising ronin facing each other
Rise of the Ronin is another crappy PC port, performance patch coming 'soon'
An NPC from the Monster Hunter Wilds beta who's been turned into a lo-poly nightmare by a graphics issue.
'It runs awful. It looks awful': Monster Hunter Wilds performance issues put a dampener on its record-breaking concurrents as it settles into an early Mixed rating on Steam
Rise of the Ronin review
Rise of the Ronin review
Both Spider-men leap into action in Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 swings straight into hard crashes, performance issues, and a very mixed Steam rating: 'Issues up the wazoo'
Elden Ring parry character
Don't worry about missing Elden Ring Nightreign's network test on PC—nobody could play it on console either
Monster Hunter Wilds
I wish Monster Hunter Wilds' open world and changing seasons were ambitious enough to justify its PC performance woes, but they've yet to truly wow me
Latest in RPG
Olivia, a hunter from Monster Hunter Wilds, looks perplexed in an icy blue environment.
Monster Hunter Wilds players wonder if frenzied monsters are a little undercooked, as one slaps a sickly bird into a fine paste in just 25 seconds
Sans, from the hit 2015 RPG undertale, folds his arms in a dashing suit as stonks rise in the background.
You can grab Undertale for less than $1, as the genre-defining indie RPG beats its all-time player peak for the first time in 10 years
KOTOR remake returns for annual tradition of reminding you it's still alive, but no you can't hear anything more about it until it comes back next year to say it again
Alligator skull with glowing eyes on human body and cords coming out sitting at piano with "The Norwood Etudes" ready to play
My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich'
Rise of the Ronin review
Rise of the Ronin review
Wyrdsong concept art
Wyrdsong, the RPG from ex-Bethesda talent, isn't dead—but it's no longer an open world: 'We're down to a skeleton crew'
Latest in News
Olivia, a hunter from Monster Hunter Wilds, looks perplexed in an icy blue environment.
Monster Hunter Wilds players wonder if frenzied monsters are a little undercooked, as one slaps a sickly bird into a fine paste in just 25 seconds
Inzoi character studio - A Zoi designed to look like Billie Eilish
Inzoi is giving eager life simmers another free taste of its gorgeous character creator, with a bonus build mode demo for the architecture nerds
A group of adventurers plans out their strategy on a table of maps and documents.
This Pathfinder Humble Bundle lets you level up your TTRPG library and donate to charity at the same time starting at just $5
Sans, from the hit 2015 RPG undertale, folds his arms in a dashing suit as stonks rise in the background.
You can grab Undertale for less than $1, as the genre-defining indie RPG beats its all-time player peak for the first time in 10 years
Key art for the new Age of Empires 2 expansion showing an angry Viking and Japanese warlod.
Age of Empires 2 team continues to cook while delivering 'legendarily long' 8,000-word patch notes about 'the biggest updates' the 26 year-old game has ever had
Max, protagonist of Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, stares with trepidation at something off-screen with her friend.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure reportedly a 'large loss' for Square Enix, says analyst, who adds: 'The company's IP fundamentally varies too much between good and bad'