The Witcher 4 Will Target 60 FPS on Consoles but Series S Will Be Extremely Challenging Says CD Projekt Red
Next Witcher saga offered ultra-smooth gameplay on PlayStation 5, aiming for that glorious 60fps. The owners of Xbox Series S might probably find themselves in a monster of a challenge. CD Projekt Red is pushing Unreal Engine 5 to its limits, which is clear from the tech demo graciously shown at State of Unreal. The view into the tech magic behind the new Witcher was reportedly hitting that sought-after 60fps mark even with ray tracing set to maximum on a stock PS5. Will the Series S be able to tame this beast? The hunt for optimization is on.
The Witcher 4 Performance Target on Consoles
Forget choppy frame rates and compromising on consoles. CDPR’s “The Witcher 4” tech demo was not just pretty graphics but, rather, a big statement. According to Digital Foundry, the studio set its target at a solid 60 frames per secondfrom the very beginning.This is not some retrofitted performance goal to be patched after release; it is in the actual DNA of the game. And the commitment extends beyond that demo. So, by the time “The Witcher 4” hits current-gen, it should be quite the silky-smooth RPG experience. The Wild Hunt awaits? Not if they are hunting fluidly.
“We’ve just drawn a few cards on the table: this hand is in no way complete. Think of that as a glimpse behind a few layers of curtain, a raw sketch of the masterpiece we are attempting to realize. Core gameplay loops? Combat? Let’s just say they’re still in the design document,” said Charles Tremblay, Vice President of Technology at CD Projekt Red, providing an uncommon insight into the development process.
The 60 frames per second target is non-negotiable. There is absolutey no room for failure. Everything is being thrown at making sure this thing reaches optimum performance. This is an enormous task free from guaranteed success but we will fight tooth and nail to get it realized.
60 FPS on Series S
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are aiming high to hit a silky smooth 60fps, but CDPR suspects Xbox Series S may struggle a little getting cam.
A silky-smooth 60fps experience on Xbox Series S forWitcher 4could very well be in the balance. Tremblay was asked about fitting the game’s graphical fidelity down to accommodate Microsoft’s less-powerful console and he admitted, “Scaling down is on our radar, absolutely.” Yet he relaxed expectations, hinting that a smooth 60fps might be something they’d hardly actually achieve: “Hitting 60fps on the Series S will be…extremely challenging. We’ve got some figuring out to do.”
The Xbox Series S, while an affordable outlet for purchase, posed a bottleneck for the developers. From a hardware standpoint, the Series S comes with lesser memory and GPU systems in comparison to the Series X. Studios find themselves caught in a precarious balancing act wherein developers have to optimize the system, forcing sacrifices between visual fidelity and advanced features, such that a game runs smoothly on the weaker Series S. Therein lies a unique challenge for development in this current generation.
For the vastly impatient Xbox Baldur’s Gate 3 enthusiasts, it has been quite the frustrating wait. While the release on PC and PS5 was very well received, the jump to Xbox Series was postponed by an unusual debacle: the Series S. Larian Studios found it difficult to cook up a recipe for installing split-screen co-op into a game for a less capable console. At the end of the day, compromises were put forth. So, did anyone really get to play Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox first before the quick download on PC by four months and PS5 by three? Split-screen co-op on the Series S was not present.
The game’s Xbox Series installment hit a snag due to the Series S. Game Science insinuated that the developers were forced into circumstances for reasons pertaining to the optimization challenges of working on Microsoft’s less-powerful machine.
After feastings on that buttery-smooth 60fps Witcher 4 tech demo on PS5, it’s worth a little warning. Geralt did look very glorious, but hey, it’s a demo. The console users might not have that sort of performance when the game drops. And dropping? Don’t expect to even smell the new Witcher saga before 2027, for CDPR is holding tight around the reins.
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