Surgeon Simulator 2: Access All Areas is a-live across Steam, Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, Epic Game Store and the Microsoft Store. Since launching on Thursday 2nd, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of aspiring surgeons jumping into the game to fix, or worsen, Bob’s ailments.
Launching a live game often comes with a few teething problems, and whilst we’ve seen plenty of funny streams, screenshots and videos of people enjoying Surgeon Simulator 2: Access All Areas, we’re also aware of some issues a portion of players are facing.
We’ve all reported bugs and technical issues safely stored in our backlog, but, for transparency, we wanted to list out the game issues that are being prioritised by the development team for the remainder of this week. These issues require a bit more work and attention than simply pushing out hotfixes, but here’s what we’re currently working on:
- Long loading screens, authentication issues, black screen issues
Most of these issues are related to our server capacity, which has been consistently overwhelmed since the game’s launch on Thursday due to high player demand. It’s our first big game launch on so many simultaneous platforms as a studio, and it’s been a learning curve for us.
As soon as the server issues were identified, we began upscaling our capacity and are continuing to make improvements each day. Specific server improvements have been made for PC and Xbox to allow more players into the game, and we’re monitoring this on a regular basis.
- Multiplayer issues, party disconnections and friends appearing offline
Surgery is best enjoyed with friends, but a portion of players aren’t actually able to team up with their friends to play Surgeon Simulator 2: Access All Areas. This is tied to the server issues mentioned above, but the developers are looking into multiplayer specific solutions to get this resolved across all platforms ASAP.
- Error pop-ups, voice / multiplayer ban messages
Don’t worry, we haven’t actually banned you. We’re aware of players across the Windows Store experiencing pop-up messages saying that they’re banned from multiplayer or communicating with other players. This is not the case and is in fact another known issue that we’re continuing to investigate.
Error messages cropping up during gameplay can usually be ignored, or dealt with by restarting the game, however as this has continued persisting it requires some developer time to get a solution.
For the specific “active internet required” error players are experiencing on Game Pass for PC, we have a fix that is currently in certification.
- Progression problems, missing cosmetics
You may find that your game progress hasn’t been updated in-game, or that when you visit the mirror in the lobby you don’t have the right cosmetics or the cosmetics that you’re owed (for example, Plague Doctor). This issue is impacting a small number of players, but we’re looking into the progress issue as a matter of urgency.
- Xbox controls, arm extension
We received some feedback from players who are unable to reach out and grab items in the Xbox version. The game features intentionally complex arm controls to make the experience chaotic, but we are gathering all your feedback in order to improve the player experience. In the meantime, we would like to remind you that your surgeon’s arm can be extended by pressing and holding the left bumper (LB) and moving the right stick. This will let you reach objects further away.
On top of reported bugs, there has also been plenty of community feedback, whether that’s around difficulties with controllers or general suggestions. We have gathered all of this, and once we deal with the prioritised technical issues, we’ll move on to reviewing the info that’s been presented.
If you’re experienced any of the above problems whilst trying to enjoy Surgeon Simulator 2: Access All Areas, we’re sorry, and we’re super grateful for your patience. As mentioned, this is our first major launch in so many platforms and services, and the response has been overwhelming. It’s safe to say the Medical Facility hasn’t had this many visitors in a while, so it’s key for us to open the doors to as many players as possible.
You can get more frequent updates on the official Discord server here.