Gamers looking for the next generation of consoles to offer a major graphical leap in technology may be in for disappointment, according to one developer that will work with the consoles. While thehardware inside both the PS5and Xbox Series X offer a lot for creators to be excited about, they also apparently want to temper expectations when it comes to visuals.
Speaking withGamingBolt, Grimorio of Games’ Víctor Pedreño doesn’t believe that the new consoles will do much to improve the games that his studio makes. At three to four times the power of the PS4 or Xbox One, the next generation of platforms offer a nice boost to Pedreño and his colleagues, but as he explains, “For developers like us that’s not going to change much, as we are more than fine with the current gen’s hardware to make the games we make.”
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Because Grimorio of Games focuses on smaller, independent titles, that extra power, while nice, is not going to make any significant differences.Load times might be betterand the frame rate could be more consistent, but what Pedreño is really trying to say is that his studio’s games won’t get any sort of visual bump from the PS5 or Xbox Series X hardware. The games have a very specific style and no amount of extra power is going to change or improve those visuals.
But even though his games might not see the benefit of the console’s visually, many games will. However, Pedreño wants gamers to temper their expectations, as the leap to this next generation likely won’t be as significant as in the past. WhenSony moved from PS1 to PS2, and the PS2 to PS3, the visuals in games was mind-boggling for many players. Visuals that were previously only seen in pre-rendered cutscenes were now available in-engine and the line between the polygonal model and real-world representation blurred.
Now games are as close to photorealistic as they are going to get, and the jumps aren’t going to be as jarring. Developers will need to look at the technology available and determine how best to leverage it to deliver something new and fresh.
Both Sony and Microsoft likely agree with Pedreño, since neither company has put the emphasis on visuals when talking about their new consoles. Frame rates and load times have been two marquee features for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, with visuals taking somewhat of a back seat. Most next-gen games, in fact, are being kept under wraps or, likeGearbox’sGodfall, have only shown brief snippets of footage.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are expected to release this fall.
