Fix graphics settings not persisting after client restart

[decentraland-bot]

Build version

Not specified

Issue Description

Graphics settings are not being persisted between client restarts. Multiple users report having to redo their graphics settings every time the client is restarted. This was reportedly fixed at some point in the past but has resurfaced.

STR (Steps to Reproduce)

1. Launch the Decentraland client on Windows
2. Open Settings and configure graphics settings (e.g. quality, resolution, render distance)
3. Close the client completely
4. Reopen the client and check graphics settings

Expected Result

Graphics settings configured by the user should be saved and restored upon restarting the client.

Actual Result with evidence

Graphics settings are reset to defaults after every client restart. Users must manually reconfigure their settings each time.

Reproduction

Always (100% reproduction rate for affected users)

Operative system and additional Notes

Windows

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Reported by Thomas
Requested by Flora Gomes via Slack

[github-actions]

Automated Triage

Issue type	bug
Affected area	Graphics Settings (UI & Settings)
Feature category	Secondary
Severity	SEV-3 → 2-medium

Reasoning: Graphics settings persistence is a Secondary category feature (UI & Settings). The issue affects multiple Windows users with 100% reproducibility, but core gameplay remains functional—users can still enter the world and play using default graphics settings. This meets the SEV-3 criteria: Secondary feature degraded, main flows still work.

Labels applied: bug, 2-medium, Windows Only, need QA validation

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Auto-triaged. If labels are incorrect, update issue triage categories or severity policy and re-run triage.

[github-actions]

Related Issues

This issue relates to a broader problem with settings persistence. While investigating for duplicates, I found these related issues that may share the same root cause:

• [QA] Settings | Window size is not persisted after closing and reopening the app #8796 ([CLOSED] Window size not persisted after closing/reopening) - Addressed window dimension persistence specifically
• [QA] Window Resize | Window size not remembered when switching back to fullscreen #8012 ([OPEN] Window size not remembered when switching fullscreen modes) - Related window mode persistence issue
• [QA] Proximity Voice Chat | 'Hear Others' toggle state not persisted across sessions #8308 ([CLOSED] 'Hear Others' toggle not persisted across sessions) - Another settings persistence issue

The problem in #9814 appears to be a regression affecting multiple graphics settings (quality preset, resolution, render distance). Consider reviewing the fix for #8796 and checking if similar persistence mechanisms are missing for other graphics settings like quality and render distance.

[decentraland-bot]

Additional context from thread discussion:

The affected users are BillyTeacoin and EmpressTrash.

A relevant nuance surfaced: Explorer has a setting that automatically forces graphics to LOW on first launch for low-spec PCs. The question was raised whether the affected users might be hitting that auto-setting on every restart rather than having their manual changes ignored.

However, the conclusion from the team is clear: even if the auto-LOW setting applies on first launch, once a user manually changes their graphics settings, those changes must be saved and respected on subsequent restarts. The current behavior of overriding user-configured settings is the bug.

"We should not override the settings set by the user." — Stoyan Tsekov

[decentraland-bot]

Root cause identified for Intel Arc B-series users (e.g. BillyTeacoin with Intel Arc B580):

The graphics quality being forced to LOW on every restart is likely caused by the hardware requirements check failing for the Arc B580. When a machine doesn't meet minimum requirements, Explorer auto-sets graphics to LOW — and if this check re-runs on every restart, user changes get overridden each time.

Minimum requirements are configured via the feature flag explorer-alfa-minimum-requirements. The current Arc GPU regex is:

"arc_gpu_supported_version_regex": "a(\\d{3})",
"minimum_arc_supported_version": 500

This matches Arc A-series only (e.g. A580). The Intel Arc B-series (e.g. B580) uses a different prefix and is not matched, causing it to be rejected as insufficient hardware.

Two separate issues to address:

1. Feature flag fix — Update arc_gpu_supported_version_regex to also match B-series GPUs (e.g. [ab](\\d{3})), assuming B580 and above meet the minimum performance bar (B580 is a Battlemage-gen discrete GPU, generally considered more capable than A580).

2. Settings persistence bug — Even for users who do fail the requirements check, once they manually change their graphics settings those changes should be saved and not overridden on subsequent restarts. The auto-LOW on first launch for low-spec hardware is acceptable; silently reverting user-configured settings on every restart is not.

Context surfaced by Lorenzo Ranciaffi and Dawid Krajewski in Slack.