[Update: this story has been updated with a progress report following the original article. Check below for details.]
The above drab image is a screenshot of Mafia III‘s “installation” screen. It’s currently at 34%. This image was taken five hours after the game’s purchase from the PlayStation Store.
That’s fucking ridiculous.
After purchasing Mafia III from the PS Store, it downloads and shows up as ready to start on the console’s dashboard. Like so many other lying sack-of-shit games however, it’s not actually ready to play. Barely anything was downloaded the first time around – the alleged “installation” is really a download process for the full game.
Mafia III is not the first game to pull such bollocks – Tecmo Koei games do it all the time – but I’ve never, not once, seen a title take this long. Five hours after it’s been bought, and it’s managed to get just over a quarter of the thing downloaded. If there are any other PS4 games that have taken so long, I’m yet to see them.
I mean, this is seriously fucking ridiculous.
A brief look online reveals this isn’t a one-off situation. Multiple reports from confused and irritated customers reveal Mafia III has a bit of a problem, but weirdly enough it’s not been widely reported.
Mafia III‘s little download struggle appears to be contained to digital downloads. Although the physical disc version naturally requires a silly amount of installing, it’s lightning fast compared to its ethereal counterpart.
I searched around, and it seems that no media outlet has talked about this, despite the complaints being days old and remaining unresolved by 2K Games or Hangar 13 – or Sony, if it’s the fault of the PlayStation Network.
No waves have been made about what is a ridiculous fucking situation, despite it being fucking ridiculous.
Here’s a video of the “installation” running in real-time. As you can see, it’s fucking ridiculous.
Mafia III launched with a number of technical problems, chiefly on PC.
The game was locked at 30 frames-per-second for several days on PC before the developer fixed it this weekend. Other problems include the game not opening, various input detection issues, and unexpected crashes.
Bugs and glitches are reported to riddle the game across all platforms, ranging from funny to severe. Audio issues, stuttering, and texture errors are among the most common.
I’ve downloaded games big and small on consoles, and while it’s never been a particularly speedy procedure, it’s never taken so long that the likelihood of me playing something the day of purchase has sat at almost zero.
For real though… this download time is fucking ridiculous.
[10/11/2016 10:22pm] Update:
It’s been several hours since I first posted this article, and as I prepare to go to sleep, having not played Mafia III today, I figured I’d write up how the “installation” has been going so far.
In the time since posting this article, I was able to download, install, and play a good chunk of Dragon Quest Builders. It’s pretty good so far! Mafia III continued to “install” during Builders‘ entire download and playtime. I’ve also eaten my dinner, watched an old episode of Best of the Worst, published a Greenlight Good Stuff video, and masturbated.
I initially purchased Mafia III at around 1pm. As I write this, it’s 10:22pm. Mafia III‘s “installation” is only 55% complete.
This is the future the so-called AAA videogame industry wants for us.
