Behind the Glitches: How Transparency and Perseverance Revived Pathfinder: Kingmaker

This article provides an overview of a challenging journey during a game’s launch, highlighting the obstacles, quick fixes, and lessons learned along the way. The narrative comes from a prominent technical director who shared his experience during a major industry event.

At Devcom 2025, the Technical Director of Owlcat Games, Alexey Drobyshevsky, offered an extensive account of the difficulties encountered during the release of Pathfinder: Kingmaker. The game, which was made available on PC, Xbox One, and PS4, initially faced severe Technical performance problems that made it nearly impossible to play.

Drobyshevsky explained that customer feedback on a popular digital platform was very negative, and the team was forced into a round-the-clock effort to address the numerous technical problems. Over the course of more than a month, updates were released almost every other day in an effort to resolve the issues promptly. One recurring problem was the game halting at the loading screen. To address this, the solution implemented involved displaying a notice indicating that the first load might "require a substantial time commitment, a strategy" that helped manage player expectations.

Reflecting on his role back in the early days at Owlcat Games, when he was one of only four programmers, Drobyshevsky emphasized that his journey in game development was deeply influenced by personal connections. He credited early experiences with tabletop role-playing games and the friendships formed in that arena as instrumental in shaping his career path. These relationships have continued to serve as a valuable asset within the gaming industry.

Addressing the community’s reaction to the known glitches, he underscored the value of honesty and responsiveness. Maintaining transparency about ongoing issues and proactively addressing them not only helped mitigate the negative reception but sometimes even transformed some problems into a source of light-hearted humor, which ultimately played a positive role in marketing the game.

Below is a concise overview of the essential insights drawn from… this experience:

• Timely and frequent updates can be crucial in managing technical setbacks.
• Clear communication with the player community is essential to set realistic expectations.
• Personal connections and transparency can turn challenges into opportunities.

For anyone keen on a more in-depth exploration of the intricacies of this development process, a complete interview is available for further exploration.