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/ Games porting /
Pathologic 2
Dark Narrative Survives the Jump to PS4 and Xbox One
$5.9M
revenue
estimated
92%
rating
on Steam
4.4/5
rating
on PlayStation
/ Testimonials /
A beautiful nightmare you’ll never forget
TheXboxHub
Good visuals
Pathologic 2’s visuals are particularly good, especially in regards to the character design and creatures.
Slant Magazine
4/5
It’s one of the most stunning examples of a game as a cohesive whole, as every aspect is tuned for maximum stress and horror.
Xbox Tavern
7.3/10
Your health, stamina, food and water bars all drop rather quick […] which really adds to the unforgiving aspect of Pathologic 2.
KeenGamer
9/10
Pathologic 2 is one of the worst gaming experiences you can have, but in a good way. You can embrace this [...] anxiety-fueled nightmare and gain a truly remarkable ride from it.
/ Project overview /
Pingle × tinyBuild
About the game
Pathologic 2 is a haunting survival RPG set in a plague-stricken steppe town. Hunger, exhaustion, and trust weigh heavier than weapons as players race against time to save lives or fail with purpose.
The game was released on PC in May 2019, and later landed on Xbox One (December 2019) and PS4 (March 2020).
Client
tinyBuild
Solution
Porting
Engine
Platforms
Release
Xbox One
December 12, 2019
PlayStation 4
March 6, 2020
Partnership timeline
2019-2020
About Pingle & tinyBuild partnership
tinyBuild teamed up with Pingle Studio to bring Pathologic 2’s survival-horror experience to consoles. The original game, however, pushed Unity’s limits on PS4 and Xbox One.
Pingle stepped in to optimize performance, redesign controls, and ensure a seamless gamepad-native experience for console players.
/ The Challenge /
Deliver native gamepad feel at 30 FPS on consoles
Pathologic 2’s PC build wasn’t optimized for console hardware. Early Xbox One and PS4 tests delivered frame rates well below 30 FPS. Unity struggled to process the game’s high-poly assets and complex scene hierarchies on console GPUs.
Beyond performance, the game had no gamepad support. So, we had to rebuild the control scheme to match console standards.
Here’s what it took to make Pathologic 2 feel right on console hardware.
- Optimize performance to run at a steady 30 FPS on PS4 and Xbox One.
- Implement native gamepad controls for DualShock and Xbox, replacing the mouse/keyboard input.
- Redesign UI navigation for smooth interaction with thumbsticks, radial menus, and trigger confirmations.
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/ Phase 1 /
Optimizing Pathologic 2 for 30 FPS on PS4 and Xbox One systems
On PC, each environment in Pathologic 2 runs multiple overlapping simulations: disease outbreaks, NPC schedules, trading, and evolving faction dynamics. But on consoles, these systems overwhelmed the hardware, leading to unstable frame rates, crashes, and scene stuttering.
To fix the frame rate drops, the team started a full optimization pass that covered code, assets, and rendering.
1
Audited Unity project files, code, and rendering setup to locate performance chokepoints.
2
Rewrote and optimized C# code in high-impact systems.
3
Simplified and culled heavy 3D assets to reduce GPU load.
4
Reworked pipeline to compress textures and optimize memory usage.
5
Tuned lighting, shadows, and post-processing to align with 8th-generation console limits.
/ Phase 2 /
Designing native gamepad controls from scratch
Originally designed for mouse-keyboard input, Pathologic 2 had no controller logic.
Inventory management, dialogue trees, and movement controls all assumed players had direct mouse cursor access and dedicated keyboard hotkeys that don’t exist on controllers. We reworked the input system, so the key survival mechanics felt fast and intuitive with DualShock and Xbox controllers.
1
Designed gamepad-first input schemes based on focus group testing.
2
Implemented full controller mappings for UI, inventory, combat, and navigation.
3
Refactored Unity UI to support smooth navigation with thumbsticks and triggers.
4
QA-tested player interactions to prevent input lag or control ambiguity.
/ Phase 3 /
Certification hurdles cleared on the first try
Even a fully optimized game can be blocked at launch if it doesn’t meet platform standards. For console publishers, failing certification means weeks of delay and missed market windows. Pingle’s team made sure none of that happened.
1
Reviewed and pre-tested against Sony and Microsoft TRC (Technical Requirements Checklist), from controller behavior to crash logs.
2
Rebuilt key systems like save/load, pause menus, and error handling to align with platform guidelines.
3
Simulated real-world scenarios in QA to surface and fix edge-case failures.
As a result, the game passed Sony and Microsoft certification on the first submission, clearing release with zero blockers.
/ The results /
Pathologic 2 runs at 30 FPS with full gamepad support on PS4 and Xbox One
Before
After
PC release only (May 2019)
Full console release: Xbox One (December 2019) & PS4 (March 2020)
Unstable performance on console builds
Optimized build that runs stable 30 FPS on target consoles
No dedicated console control scheme
Native gamepad support (DualShock & Xbox) designed for console players
Limited platform reach
Broad console presence via PS4 & Xbox One
/ The team /
Cast
- Team size: 13 engineers
- Unity developers
- QA engineers
- Tech Artists
- Project Managers
- 3D Artist
/ Cases /
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