Yous guys gotta remember there's probably a requirement from Ubisoft to maintain a compatibility with the box-listed systems. Ubisoft and 1C probably have a contract somewhere that details a lot of money moving around, along with a standard that must be kept compliant. Although it sounds silly to us, a work order/contract is a work order/contract, and must be fulfilled to maintain a proper business relationship...especially with a new title looming in the distance.
That being said, I agree it was a poor business choice to postpone the alpha/beta (whatever this upcoming patch is) as for legal/professional purposes, these patches are strictly for testing. In no way shape or form is the consumer, DX9 user or otherwise, forced to use these patches for any aspect of gameplay. Hell, any consumer wouldn't even know about a patch unless they went out and sought it themselves...and truthfully, anyone that is not into PC gaming enough to NOT keep up with current hardware probably isn't the type that is perusing developer forums waiting for alpha/beta patches and probably doesn't even know there is a public development cycle.
Even if they did know and attempt to participate in betas, the law is on 1C's side against any lawsuits or whatever simply because this participation is volunteer only. Common sense dictates 1C should have utilized that fact and released a patch today, but obviously there is more going on behind the scenes.
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