EA’s developer Respawn has just released Patch 9 for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, bringing significant performance improvements and long-awaited fixes to the PC version of the game. If you’re a fan of single-player adventures set in a galaxy far, far away, this patch should come as welcome news—especially if you were one of the players frustrated by the game’s performance issues at launch.
Let’s take a deeper dive into what Patch 9 brings to the table, including smoother gameplay, better optimization for ray tracing, and most notably, the removal of Denuvo DRM.
Performance Upgrades: Smoother Jedi Action
One of the key complaints from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor players since the game launched last year has been the performance issues, particularly on PC. Despite its critical success, with IGN even giving it a 9/10 in their review, players were left with buggy gameplay, framerate drops, and an overall broken experience, even after the hefty day-one download. Since then, Respawn has been slowly releasing patches to improve the game, and Patch 9 looks to be one of the biggest yet for the PC crowd.
Framerate Improvements
The latest patch focuses heavily on improving framerate stability across a wide range of PC hardware configurations. Players can now expect smoother gameplay, thanks to fixes for several sources of framerate hitching. Respawn has also optimized ray tracing to better utilize CPU resources, which should significantly improve performance on high-end GPUs.
If you’ve been dealing with lag spikes and erratic performance during intense combat scenes or large, open-world environments, this patch should help alleviate some of that. While it won’t turn a budget PC into a gaming beast, those with mid- to high-end setups should notice a meaningful difference.
Mouse and Keyboard Enhancements
Mouse and keyboard users, rejoice! Patch 9 also brings a slew of quality-of-life improvements for PC players using this setup. In earlier versions of the game, players often reported issues with responsiveness and menu navigation when using a mouse. The patch fixes this, improving mouse functionality across a variety of screens, including the title menu, workbench, and first-time user screens.
With these updates, navigating Cal Kestis’ journey on your PC should now feel a lot more natural and fluid, allowing you to focus on swinging your lightsaber rather than wrestling with the controls.
Goodbye, Denuvo DRM: A Relief for Many
Perhaps the most notable part of Patch 9 is the removal of Denuvo DRM from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. For those unfamiliar, Denuvo is a form of digital rights management (DRM) software that aims to prevent piracy but has long been a controversial topic among PC gamers. Many believe Denuvo affects game performance by overusing system resources, leading to slower framerates and longer load times.
In the case of Jedi: Survivor, some fans suspected Denuvo was contributing to the performance problems. While EA never explicitly confirmed this, the removal of Denuvo with Patch 9 will be seen as a positive step by many in the gaming community.
It’s unclear if this change alone will boost performance dramatically, but removing Denuvo certainly won’t hurt—especially for players with older or more mid-range PCs that may have been struggling under the software’s load.
The Console Launch: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on PS4 and Xbox One
Meanwhile, for those of you still rocking PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is set to launch on previous-gen consoles on September 17, priced at $49.99. With extended gameplay footage now available, we have a good idea of what to expect performance-wise.
On these platforms, the game targets 1080p at 30fps on PS4 Pro, 1440p at 30fps on Xbox One X, and a more modest 900p (PS4) and 720p (Xbox One) at the same 30fps. It’s clear that the game has been optimized for the limitations of last-gen hardware, but whether the gameplay experience will be up to par remains to be seen.
Extended gameplay footage shows Cal Kestis facing off against the Empire’s forces on Coruscant, navigating treacherous paths on Koboh, and braving the sands of Jedha alongside Nightsister Merrin. The cinematic qualities of the game’s story remain intact, though players should temper their expectations in terms of graphical fidelity on older hardware.
Bug Fixes and General Updates
On top of the performance improvements and Denuvo removal, Patch 9 includes a range of bug fixes aimed at improving the overall stability of the game.
Key Bug Fixes in Patch 9:
- Collision Issue: Fixed a bug where players could fall through elevators at low framerates. No one likes falling into the endless void, especially when you’re on a critical mission!
- Conversation Crash Fix: Addressed an issue where the game would crash if you walked away from NPC characters mid-conversation. Now you can ditch boring dialogue without consequences!
- Various Crashes: Several intermittent crashes have been resolved, improving the game’s stability across all platforms.
Quality of Life Updates
The patch also includes some noteworthy quality of life improvements. For example, the “Optimizing Game Files” screen, which had been known to drag on, has been optimized to utilize multiple CPU cores, meaning it should now process much faster. Whether you’re tweaking your loadout at a workbench or simply navigating the game menu, you should find everything running smoother.
For players who have stuck with the game through its rocky launch, these updates should make for a far better experience. Respawn has been working diligently to address the feedback, and Patch 9 is a step in the right direction.
Conclusion: Is Patch 9 the Fix Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Needed?
Overall, Patch 9 brings much-needed relief to PC players, with significant performance upgrades, bug fixes, and the removal of Denuvo DRM. If you’ve been holding off on diving back into Star Wars Jedi: Survivor due to its earlier issues, now might be the time to give it another shot—especially if you’re playing on PC.
Console players can also look forward to the PS4 and Xbox One releases later this month, though with more modest expectations regarding performance. In the meantime, Respawn has made it clear they’re committed to making Jedi: Survivor the polished experience fans deserve.
As always, may the Force be with you as you explore Cal Kestis’ journey in a galaxy far, far away—just with fewer bugs and smoother framerates this time around!
