Sidebar Games, the creators of Sports Story, have released an update to address the Nintendo Switch exclusive’s performance difficulties and game-breaking flaws. The sequel to Golf Story, one of the year’s best independent games, has been coming long. However, when Sports Story was released, gamers were eager to point out that it required additional development time. Sports Story debuted with major performance concerns and roadblocks to advancement. At the very least, Sidebar Games is working hard to enhance Sports Story.
Sports Story debuted on the Nintendo Switch without fanfare on December 23. Frustrations with the game’s technical faults were immediate, with Sidebar Games confirming on December 24 that a patch to solve “certain bugs” was in the works. Sidebar Games said on December 31 that their Sports Story update was complete but needed Nintendo’s approval. It took some time to get the Sports Story update ready for release.
The patch for Sports Story patch should be available now. The patch notes are available here:https://t.co/WP7sgXz6SF
We've got a new patch underway addressing some extra issues people have mentioned. More info coming soon.— Sidebar Games (@sidebargames) January 6, 2023
With the Sports Story patch, a number of performance and gameplay-breaking bugs have been fixed. The primary repair in the Sports Story patch 1.0.3 notes is a very vague statement emphasising that “Various attempts were made relating to golfing, overall performance, being stuck, and other issues.” Sidebar Games makes no claim to have resolved all of Sports Story’s faults but encourages players to continue reporting any issues they encounter in the future.
Although the patch notes don’t specifically include any technological changes, Sidebar Games does specifically identify a number of story-related problems. Several bugs in the Tennis Academy, for example, have been fixed, including the “Impressing Kelley Gibbon” challenge, more bees for “Catching Bees,” un-stacking players in a mine cart during the “Silver Mines Return,” and several issues with the Tennis Academy and the “baby court task” in particular. The adjustments should benefit a large number of players in Sports Story.
Again, Sidebar notes that not all of Sports Story’s problems are necessarily resolved by these adjustments. That doesn’t mean Sidebar has given up or slowed down its efforts. The sidebar has verified that a fresh patch is in the works to address several issues that have arisen after today’s upgrade.
No one is satisfied with this scenario, that much is certain. There is evidence that Sidebar was aware of Sports Story’s flaws before the game’s release, yet the game had to be released despite frustrating development concerns. But the past is gone, and all Sidebar and Sports Story players want is for the game to function as smoothly as possible. The upgrade of today is a significant step in the right direction.
