KRAFTON has just released The Callisto Protocol on PC, and we have some bad news for all its PC fans. Unfortunately, the game suffers from shader compilation stutters. Not only that, but there are numerous optimization issues currently on PC.

Let’s start with the shader compilation stutters. Contrary to other games, The Callisto Protocol does not pre-cache its shaders. Thus, and similarly to a lot of other Unreal Engine 4 games, the game will compile them in real-time, while playing. As a result of that, PC gamers will be getting a lot of stutters, especially in the first couple of areas.

The Callisto Protocol supports Ray Tracing for Transmission, Shadows and Reflections. However, these RT effects are as unoptimized as they can get in this title. Hell, the Ray Tracing Shadows are awfully pixelated and can look worse than their rasterized versions.

For our initial tests, we used an Intel i9 9900K with 16GB of DDR4 at 3800Mhz and NVIDIA’s RTX 4090 Founders Edition. We also used Windows 10 64-bit, and the GeForce 526.86 driver.

So, take a look at the following screenshot. As you can see, both our CPU and GPU were underused in this scene, resulting in a below-60fps experience. Again, this would have been fine if the game was stressing at least the CPU.

Even when we disabled the game’s Ray Tracing effects, we were getting massive drops in this scene. At 1440p/Max Settings/No RT, we were dropping from 130fps to 71fps. Furthermore, this is a linear game with small environments, and there is nothing on screen to justify this underwhelming performance. Seriously, it’s shocking witnessing a linear game like The Callist Protocol running this badly in 2022.

Lastly, we aren’t the only ones experiencing these PC performance issues. Steam currently has numerous threads in which PC gamers express their displeasure with the game’s performance. Various media publications (that reviewed the game) also report underwhelming PC performance.

I’ll update this article with a video (once YouTube processes it) in which we showcase the game’s benchmark scene!

John Papadopoulos

John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved - and still does - the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the "The Evolution of PC graphics cards." Contact: Email