We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Outriders demo gets two million players, devs issuing major patch with loot changes

Outriders is already getting balance patches and it's not even out yet

Outriders has been quickly gaining momentum thanks to a recently-released demo, and while it remains to be seen if the loot shooter will turn out to be the Destiny-killer many fans are hoping for, it’s been a promising start. Publisher Square Enix and developer People Can Fly have announced that over two million players have downloaded the demo, and a major patch is incoming for this trial version of the game.

“Any patches and changes for the demo need to be carefully balanced with our work towards launching the full game,” the devs say in their announcement, but this patch will address a number of issues with the demo, including some crash fixes, improvements to matchmaking time, and – one of the bigger community requests – a motion blur toggle. This patch is expected to be live “early next week.”

Additionally, a backend update will hit the game tomorrow with some notable balance and loot changes. Captains will have their Healing Light ability nerfed, and cooldowns on their From the Ashes and Phoenix Aura abilities will be increased. Gauss is getting tougher, as healing from Steel Wall will be increased, and repeat playthroughs will see him get increased health.

This update will also take some steps to discourage farming runs. “While we do not want to prevent farming runs (We get it!), the lootcave discovered via the triple chest-run, as well as the store exploit, do not feel to be within the spirit of the game.” To that end, epic items are going to be removed from vendors in the demo, and chests will no longer drop legendary items – however, repeated runs of sidequests will have a chance to drop legendaries instead.

On top of all that, the devs plan to make some changes based on feedback in time for the game’s full release on April 1. That includes improvements to “systemic issues” with the cover system, as well as improvements to address matchmaking, missing items, and cutscene camera shake. You see the details over on Reddit.

Check out the Outriders classes or our Outriders legendary weapons guide for some help running through the demo – there’s a lot on offer here.