Gee, I wonder what it could be.

The PC release of Deathloop has a lot going for it, but uh, it seems like it also has some glaring issues that need to be addressed. Right now, the game is getting slammed in user reviews because of a very obvious "stutter" that shows up quite frequently.

This stutter, judder, frame pacing issue, or whatever it is exactly is manifesting itself across most every hardware configuration. It seems to be most prominent when using a mouse and keyboard, with a reduced impact when using a controller on the same system. Whatever you want to call it, one thing is for certain: It's damn annoying.

It seems as though the common belief for the cause of the stutter is none other than our good friend Denuvo. Of course, neither Arkane nor Bethesda have come out to say that the anti-piracy software is to blame, but it really wouldn't be the first time it caused issues. All we need to do is look at the recently released Resident Evil Village and its recent performance woes that were found to be caused by anti-piracy measures. Ironically, it was a cracked version of the game that made it clear that the anti-piracy implementation was largely to blame. At least with Village, those issues were fixed... eventually.

For what it's worth, Arkane is aware of the issues that people are experiencing. A post from an self-proclaimed Deathloop community manager was made to Reddit about a day ago. They say that they are "aware of reports that some PC users are experiencing" and are "actively investigating the issue right now as a priority."