PlayStation Plus free game slammed as devs confirm poor performance won't be patched

One of the major benefits of subscribing to a service such as PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass is the prospect of playing games we might not otherwise play.

Earlier this month, Sony announced the new offerings for PlayStation Plus in December 2023 for the Essential tier. Those games included LEGO 2K Drive, Powerwash Simulator and Sable. The latter of which is today’s topic of discussion.

Check out the Sable trailer below!

Developed by indie studio Shedworks and published by Raw Fury, in Sable, players will “Embark on a unique and unforgettable journey and guide Sable through her Gliding; a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts and mesmerising landscapes, capped by the remains of spaceships and ancient wonders.”

Sable was initially released for PC, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One in September 2021, but it took over a year for it to arrive on PlayStation 5. So when Sable was included in the PS Plus library for 2023 it should have been a joyous time for patient fans. So why hasn't the PS Plus release been well received? According to reports across social media, the PS5 version is tainted with performance issues.

Sadly, when a Twitter user asked the creative director of Sable, Gregorios Kythreotis if the performance issues would be fixed, the reply spelt bad news. “Sable's performance on PS5 is currently extremely poor. It undermines a fantastic game running underneath,” exclaimed Ricardo Pereira. “Any word on a performance patch, seeing as it's now on PS+ and available to so many new players like myself?”

Unfortunately not, we're a super small team and we did try to eek out more performance with what we have - we worked over a year after Xbox launch but at some point we need to start making new stuff. We approached some bigger companies to help but they wanted insane money

— Gregorios Kythreotis (@ShedworksGreg) December 12, 2023

“Unfortunately not, we're a super small team and we did try to eek out more performance with what we have - we worked over a year after Xbox launch but at some point, we need to start making new stuff. We approached some bigger companies to help but they wanted big money,” replied Kythreotis.

As you can imagine, much of the response to this news has not been all that positive. “So then why should I, as a PS5 owner, ever spend money on any game your studio releases in the future? You just told millions of potential players "Sorry, but you're not worth our dev time to give you a decent playing experience." Sad reflection on the state of the game industry,” said Despair2077.

“Bro, what!? I guess the nice thing about your post is that you just motivated me to simply uninstall your game from my PS5. I’m not gonna suffer through that poor-performing game,” replied an annoyed SanGerardino. “Enjoy your PS+ money, dude!”

“Oh well, guess it's safe to assume whatever "new stuff" you make will also run like garbage and I can safely ignore it. Great self-own,” added ASaltyDog2358.

At the end of the day, we do not know what restrictions are faced behind closed doors and while this might not be the best look for Shedworks, it’s always important to be kind no matter how frustrated we may or may not be.

Sable is out now on PC, PlayStation 5 and modern Xbox consoles.