The much-anticipated PC release of Spider-Man 2, developed by Nixxes, was expected to be surprisingly performant based on its system requirements. However, upon its launch, the game has received a 'mixed' rating on Steam, with 55% of reviews being positive. Many players have reported numerous technical issues that are affecting their gaming experience.

One user with an RTX 4090 GPU and the latest Nvidia drivers (5.66.36) mentioned that the game frequently crashes despite their high-end setup. Another player described the game as "completely unplayable," stating that it crashes to the desktop every five minutes, leading them to request a refund.

A particularly frustrated reviewer advised potential buyers to "hold off on buying until they get a couple of stabilization patches out," describing the game's state as "rough." They cited issues such as lighting not loading in cutscenes, scenes running at seconds-per-frame, audio desync, freezing, stuttering, and a host of other performance problems. This reviewer also decided to seek a refund, citing better uses for the $70 price tag.

The core problem seems to be frequent crashes of the game's graphics controller, even on higher-end PCs. A common error message reported by users reads: "A problem has occurred with your display driver. This can be caused by out of date drivers, using game settings higher than your GPU can handle, an overheating GPU, or an error with the game. Please try updating your graphics drivers, or lowering your in-game settings."

Other complaints include issues with features like DLSS and ray tracing not functioning properly, alongside long loading times, missing textures, and audio problems. Some players have reported performance stuttering after several hours of gameplay, which often leads to hard crashes. There's a suspicion among the community that a memory leak might be contributing to these issues.

In response, Nixxes has acknowledged the crashes on the Steam forums, advising users to consult the troubleshooting guides on the Nixxes Support website and to submit logs and crash dumps if the issues persist. They have also identified a specific bug that can occur during the photo-op missions if the framerate drops below 20 FPS, suggesting players lower their graphics settings or resolution as a temporary fix.

As the community awaits patches and further support, the initial reception of Spider-Man 2 on PC highlights the importance of addressing these technical challenges to enhance player satisfaction and ensure a smoother gaming experience.