Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2 PC update delivers huge FPS boost
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II has been transformed by its second performance update
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2 launched on PC in an abysmal state. No matter what hardware we threw at it, the game ran poorly. Even a PC with an RTX 5080 GPU and an Intel i9-13900K CPU couldn’t achieve solid framerates. Now, the game’s second “Performance update” has been released, and it has transformed the game. Mechanicus 2 can now run on PC with stable FPS numbers.
Our testing has confirmed major performance gains in Mechanicus 2. Bulwark Studios claims that average frame-rate improvements for performance update 2 are 34%. Results will vary depending on your hardware. This is a massive performance gain, especially since the game doesn’t look appreciably different after this update.
Our latest performance update is now available to all players on Steam, following testing on the public beta branch.
Independent hardware testing recorded an average frame-rate improvement of around 34%, with improvements seen on 21 of the 22 systems tested. Results will vary depending on your hardware, graphics settings and what’s happening in-game.
We know performance has been a frustration for many of you. If it’s kept you from enjoying Mechanicus II, we hope this update gives you a reason to return.
Thank you to everyone who tried the beta and shared feedback. Please let us know how the update runs for you, and report any issues through the bug report form, including your system specifications and graphics settings.
Thank you for your patience and support.
– Bulwark Studios
Performance Gains Tested
At 4K maximum settings with an RTX 5080, Mechanicus 2 now has an average framerate that is 3.12x higher than the game’s day-1 performance in our testing area. Compared to the game’s first PC performance update, performance update 2 achieves 1.46x higher average framerates. Similar gains appear at lower settings.
Today’s Native 4K Maximum settings results are stronger than our day-1 results at 1080p minimum settings with DLSS in performance mode. That’s how thoroughly Mechanicus 2 has been transformed on PC. While the FPS boost in Mechanicus 2 is significant, the game’s recent updates also added more configurable graphics options and upgraded its DLSS implementation. These changes give PC gamers more options, and increase the image quality delivered by Nvidia’s DLSS technology.
Mechanicus II’s main technical issues appear to be solved
Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus 2 launched in an appalling state. To be frank, I am unsure how a game with such poor performance was ever greenlit for launch. Games Workshop should not have allowed it, and neither should Bulwark Studios or their publisher, Kasedo Games. While the game still has some shader compilation stutters when the game is first played, these issues were minor compared with the game’s overall performance profile. Thankfully, Bulwark Games has taken the time to fix Mechanicus 2’s PC performance, resulting in HUGE performance gains.
On our test system, the game now runs over 3x faster than it did at launch. To say that the game now runs more smoothly is an understatement. Mechanicus 2 has undergone a transformation.
Mechanicus 2’s launch saddens me, as while the game’s performance profile is a mess, I did enjoy playing it. I am glad to see the game’s performance has improved. However, that doesn’t mean the game is perfect now. Shader compilation stutter is still present. Additionally, as a turn-based game, Mechanicus 2 would probably benefit from Frame Generation support. After all, input latency doesn’t matter much in turn-based games, but smoothness does. Additionally, XeSS support would be useful for users of Intel GPUs.
If you have been waiting for Mechanicus 2 to receive a big optimisation update, consider that wait over. The game now runs much better than it did before. It runs more than three times faster on our system. That’s incredible, but also a clear indication of how bad this game’s PC performance was at launch.
Join the discussion on Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2’s PC performance improvements on the OC3D Forums.
