The amazingly recent and wildly popular arrival of Atomic Heart on Xbox Game Pass on the 20th of February had both the usual Xbox gamers and those just looking for something new, all gleefully anticipating it’s release. And, yet, shortly after the game was made available, a monstrously large day one patch followed soon after, leaving many fans and players surprised and perplexed at the immense size of it.
The patch for the Xbox version of Atomic Heart weighed in at around about 70GB, and a similarly sized 75GB update arrived on the PC version. To put it into perspective, the initial file size of the game on Xbox Series X was around 80GB, so essentially it necessitated and required gamers to download the full game all over again. No matter which way you slice it, this was a notable addition to the game and surprise to boot.
While Mundfish, the developer of Atomic Heart, have been silent on the matter, word has spread amongst the gaming community that the patch made some changes and adjustments to the game controls. Sadly, we don’t yet know the full extent of these alterations or how they may affect gameplay, as the developers have yet to release any official patch notes in what appears to be a case of strict radio silence from the team on this matter.
However, it does seem that the developers are addressing some requests from the Atomic Heart community, in particular a function to adjust the Field-Of-View (FOV) and to have the option enable users to make subtitles larger. Mundfish have responded to the inquiries and have promised that the FOV settings will be arriving soon in one of their upcoming updates. It’s unclear if this is the same patch, but if the previous day one patch is anything to go on, the likely outcome will be the massive size that it comes with.
At any rate, those who have ventured forth in Atomic Heart can probably attest to how enthralling the sci-fi shooter is, yet that has not stopped the series of concerning updates that the game has been through in it’s infancy. Just what does this day one patch add to the game, and what’s more, why did it have to be this large? It’s all still a mystery, but hopefully the developers can fill us in soon what was behind the game’s undeniable weighty arrival.
All this aside, have you had the chance to play Atomic Heart yet? Whether on Xbox or PC, what dynamic aspects of the game have left you most impressed? Could be the numerous levels or quirky sci-fi narrative telling, or something else? Let us know in the comments and discuss it with fellow Atomic Heart players!
