The developers at People Can Fly stand ready to release the anticipated title Outriders to a fanbase grown almost overnight. A demo of the title was released on February 25, 2021, which saw surprising popularity with one gamer spending 250 hours in the Outriders demo.
Soon the game will be available for everyone to play beyond the limitations of the demo, however. The demo of Outriders had the World Tier capped at five, and the players' level capped at seven. Other features, such as crafting and modding, were similarly locked until the full title's release.
The title will officially release at midnight, EST, for console players (including PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S) on April 1, 2021. For PC and Stadia players, however, the release time will be 12:00 EST/ 09:00 PST. Outriders is already available for pre-loading, regardless of platform preference aside from the Epic Games Store, which does not support pre-loading yet.
The file size varies per platform: on the PlayStation 4, the title's size is a reported 67 GB, with 46 GB required on the PlayStation 5. The Xbox One requires 60 GB, and the Xbox Series X/S a reported 47 GB. PC users will note that the developers request 70 GB of free space, yet the file currently only takes 42.91 GB.
A day-one patch, the studio notes, is already rolled into the pre-load file size for fans to ensure the initial foray into the world isn't bogged down by additional downloads. People Can Fly also notes that multiple changes based on the Outriders demo have been made, yet the studio continues to internally test proposed changes before publishing.
A post-launch patch is planned to pare down the loading times on Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, along with the anticipated crossplay friends list and an invite system that works for all platforms. This will ensure that the open cooperative experience of Outriders, with drop-in/drop-out play, works seamlessly for the title across the digital mediums.
Note that this function requires the use of a Square Enix account - it would behoove players to create an account prior to the launch. Also in post-launch will be additional controller settings for players, such as adjusting joystick deadzone and acceleration settings. A setting is already included in the PC version that allows players to opt to use either Xbox controllers or the PlayStation variety, with matching button prompts.
Finally, People Can Fly has been adamant regarding consumer-friendly choices within the title. Outriders will not have microtransactions, and the studio states plainly that the title is not considered as the growing trend of "Games-as-a-service;" the title is a complete experience out of the box. This notably does not preclude the possibility of DLC in the future.
Outriders releases April 1 on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
