It's been a long time since Microsoft has been investing in the hype that its next-generation console, the Xbox Series X, has a lot of power. There were videos showing the video game internally, talk of it being the "most powerful console in the world" and even rumors that the company was waiting for a specific technology from AMD to take an unknown advantage compared to the PS5. However, although the Xbox Series X looks very powerful in its datasheet, in practice, the tests of some games showed the PlayStation 5 surpassing the Microsoft console.
The Digital Foundry team even performed several game tests on both the PS5 and Xbox Series X and compared them side by side. The result of the analysis was unexpected, with cases such as, for example, higher frame rates per second on PS5 running Devil May Cry 5 giving differences of more than 40FPS in some scenes. Richard Leadbetter, site editor responsible for the review said:
"The drops seem really weird to me, and it kind of suggests to me some sort of API limitation on Xbox, where the GPU is being stuttered by something."
In another test, Ubisft's new AAA game, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, again showed that the Xbox Series X is struggling to run some games. In the Digital Foundry videos it is possible to see many screen cuts and frame drops, being below 60FPS on Xbox Series X, while on PS5 everything seemed to work more fluidly.
Dirt 5 was another title that the Xbox Series X also lagged behind. The PlayStation 5 achieved better texture filtering and slightly higher image resolution. By selecting the performance mode in the game, to reach 120FPS, the PS5 demonstrated a much higher level of performance than the Microsoft console. However, when switching to quality mode, the frames per second drop more frequently than on Xbox Series X. The studio responsible for the game's development has already recognized the error and has committed to fixing it in the next patch.
Another game that showed performance differences between next-gen consoles was Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, where the Xbox Series X showed superior performance with ray-tracing enabled, but the console loses in terms of frames per second, getting below 120FPS. The PS5 even dropped to 40FPS in some cases with ray tracing enabled and in these scenes the Xbox Series X kept the 60FPS.
Something that contributed to this discrepancy in gaming performance even with the power of the Xbox Series X was the delay for Microsoft to allow developers to submit their games for certification on the console in June 2020, after receiving an update to their hardware kit. development. From this period on, the studios were on a tight schedule to make the necessary adjustments, while the PS5 dev kit had been in the hands of developers for much longer.
Microsoft Clarifies Xbox Series X Game Performance Issues
The Verge contacted Microsoft asking about these cases of underperformance in some titles, and a company spokesperson said:
"We are aware of performance issues in a handful of titles optimized on Xbox Series X|S and are actively working with our partners to identify and resolve the issues to ensure an optimal experience. As we begin a new console generation, our partners are just scratching the surface of what next-gen consoles can do and minor bug fixes are expected as they learn how to get the most out of our new platform. We look forward to continuing to work with developers to further explore the Xbox Series' capabilities. X|S in the future."
What do you think of this lack of initial support from game developers due to delays in Microsoft's actions? Comment below and share your opinion with us!
