Dragon’s Dogma 2 breaks Steam records for Capcom, but the good news ends there as reviews are ‘Mixed’ over microtransactions and performance issues

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is Capcom’s biggest-ever single-player game launch on Steam, but players aren’t taking kindly to performance issues and microtransactions. 

The long-awaited RPG sequel launched earlier today, March 22, but according to SteamDB, it’s already attained a staggering peak concurrent player count of 184,724 on Steam. While this admittedly doesn’t come close to beating the peak concurrent player counts of Monster Hunter World and Rise, it does beat out Resident Evil 4 Remake’s peak player record, making it Capcom’s biggest-ever single-player game launch on Steam.

However, players aren’t fond of the performance issues in Dragon’s Dogma 2 on PC. Over on Steam, the new game is currently sat at a ‘Mixed’ review aggregate after more than 7,000 user reviews. “Edit controller settings, crash. Open options to see if it saved my settings, crash. Spend half an hour making a character and hit start game, crash. Now any time I hover overload game, crash,” writes one less-than-glowing user review.

Other user reviews highlight severe stuttering issues on PC. “I did not expect the game to barely push 40fps in the wilderness at minimum settings with DLSS on Ultra Performance. This was bad,” reads another review. Other reviews are also criticizing the Denuvo anti-tampering software in Dragon’s Dogma 2, writing that it’s allegedly responsible for some of the performance issues, such as stuttering and frame rate drops.

Elsewhere, other players really aren’t happy about the microtransaction options in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The tweets below highlight how Capcom is selling things such as the option to edit your character created, and other in-game items like camping kits, which enable you to make camp and rest with your party of Pawns whenever you come across a campfire in the wilderness. 

However, others are pushing back against this sentiment. The content creator below, for example, highlights the fact that all the microtransaction items are available to be earned in Dragon’s Dogma 2. You’re able to earn items like Wakestones and Rift Crystals in Capcom’s new game simply by exploring its vast world, and the player in question hasn’t needed to purchase a microtransaction item after more than 100 hours in the game (even though the microtransactions themselves weren’t live before the game launched earlier today).

Other new players are also chiming in. “Once you are at the first big city following the main story (pretty early), you head to the market place,” reads a Reddit post attempting to placate displeased players. “There is like a huge rift stone inside an open building. Next to it is a pawn at a small table selling a book for 500 Rift points (which you can earn in game). It lets you edit your Arisen or Pawn once (I think you can rebuy it again if needed).”

If you’re just starting out on the journey yourself, read our 10 Dragon’s Dogma 2 tips feature for a full look at all the essential info for your Arisen and Pawns.