520°

Why the return of 30fps console games is inevitable

Future games will be more ambitious - and they can't all run at 60fps.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
XbladeTeddy565d ago

This is certainly going to be a contentious issue. While I love the smoothness of 60 I've still been enjoying games at 40 (which is suprisingly smooth) and recently played and enjoyed Metro: Exodus at 30 on my Steam Deck. I know this sounds like blasphemy to say it but if it's not a competitive shooter not being played at 60+ isn't as bad as it sounds.

Cue the hate lol.

EvertonFC565d ago (Edited 565d ago )

I don't even look if a game is 30 or 60 FPS, I just play the games lol.
I play on resolution settings on ps5 over performance so I'm assuming I still play @30fps and my experiences with returnal, rachet, sackboy, HFW, gt7 etc have been awesome.
I'm sure some gamers go into playing games over analyzing things rather than just enjoying the games?

darthv72565d ago

Since im getting older, I know my eyes arent as good as they used to be. So why waste the quality mode... i choose performance now where available.

Bathory666565d ago

It’s about quality n performance. Your probably using a really cheap tv. There’s a difference in competitive gaming fighters shooters where 60-120fps make or break the game. Seeing what your playing, those games are not high responsive framerate games. No one’s using VRR for sackboy. Get real.

Master-Tonberry565d ago

No hate, but you have managed to dodge around the main issue somewhat.

40 as you say is a vast improvement over 30fps and is a reasonable compromise, and 30fps on the SteamDeck is indeed a decent experience but that's due almost entirely to the small screen.
The main problem is 30fps on a large screen which is for many (including myself) an unpleasant experience.

ABizzel1565d ago (Edited 565d ago )

One correction the screen size has less to do with it, but display type / software / refresh rate can. While 30fps isn't ideal it doesn't fell bad as long as a game has a locked 30fps, proper frame pacing, well-managed latency, a proper sense of speed, and good motion blur.

The issues happen when more than one of these isn't right, and something just feels noticeably off.

Constantly dropping frames causes frame time spikes, screen-tearing, and stutter.
Bad frame pacing causes random stutters (Souls Games)
Bad latency makes controls feel sluggish and unresponsive
A bad sense of speed makes a game look off, and the 30fps is more noticeable
And bad motion blur or a lack thereof makes animation and motion more choppy

The introduction of 40fps modes is going to be a well-welcomed improvement for AAA games, that just can't stick to 60fps.

abstractel565d ago

I love the 45fps mode in Horizon, perfect compromise to me, but how many people own a display that supports VRR? If you game on a monitor y]ou're fine, but a lot of TVs don't support VRR so developers have to take that into consideration.

I've had this discussion with co-workers in development and hardcore gamer friends, and opinions vary. Part of the problem is that because we've been cross-gen for two years we're used to the 60fps option. Are gamers going to be willing to go back to 30fps? I hope so personally (for the right games) but we'll see.

R&C is one of the few PS5 exclusives and it looked next-gen/new-gen, and they were able to put in a 60fps mode. Insomniac also stated that it was just the tip of the iceberg of what the PS5 can handle from their point of view so we'll see as soon as we get some Spider-man 2 and Wolverine footage... Epic is also working hard on upgrading FSR and other systems to get 60fps running on PS5 and Xbox Series X (not likely for Series S though) so we'll see.

Eonjay565d ago

Nearly all of the games released this gen have supported 60 FPS. I really don't see why it needs to be contentious. Also this article states that a return to 30 is inevitable... But even now we are seeing devs moves on to 40 FPS when possible. What is inevitable are more devs going the WWS route and give 30, 40, 60 and 120 modes with VRR to boot the problem at the offset is building all of those modes into 3 different next gen platforms. That gotta be a lot of work.

Neonridr565d ago

problem is as games get more ambitious, the hardware can't quite keep up. Sure they are doing a good job now but how many true next gen games have we had? We are still living in a cross generation world right now where games are being designed for the lesser systems.

Neonridr565d ago

playing at 30 is tolerable, however once you start consistently playing at 60+ it's hard to go back. I have the luxury of having a pretty beefy PC along with my consoles, so it's sad being able to play games there at 4k/60+ fps only to have to possibly come back to 30fps on my console. That being said, I understand the price I paid for my PC so it's understandable that consoles can't deliver that same level all the time.

-T9X-69-565d ago

While the first half is true, that doesn't excuse poor optimization and lack of fidelity/performance options. Sure my PS5 can't touch my PC in terms of power and performance. However, those options have been industry standard for next-gen.....errr current-gen. They can absolutely offer native/checkerboard 4K @ 30, or 2K @ 60. The same way we can alter our PC settings to match our hardware, the devs can do the same thing prior to shipping a product. Most importantly, optimize those settings for a locked 30 and at the very least, variable 60.

Maybe a few years down the road, that 2K 60 might be harder to achieve without implementation of things like checkerboard 2K. At least the option would be there though. There just haven't been a lot of true "next-gen" games to even start with the "consoles aren't powerful enough".

WB trying to justify their lack of options for Gotham Knight is just laughable. Oh it's CPU limiting due to the huge open world with un-tethered co-op. Yet even with a 3080+i7 10700k, I can't get a solid 60FPS on ANY settings even in SP, let alone co-op. I truly feel sorry for anyone who was really looking forward to this game and got it on consoles. As gamers, we've been fed (mostly 3rd party) unoptimized shovelware for far too long. Cross gen titles being canceled and moving to current gen only and still running like garbage is just unacceptable.

andy85565d ago

You're right. Before I would have turned my nose up at 40 but it's very playable and the exact middle point between 30 and 60 fps. If they do start to push the consoles hard I'd hope the 30 fps ones do have a 40 fps mode. Although I'd hope they just have a lower res option at 60 instead

seanpitt23565d ago

That’s why ps5 pro next year will give the extra power for 60fps

Neonridr565d ago

could you imagine if they tried to pull that? People can't even get a PS5 and then along comes a Pro model, lol

andy85565d ago

It wouldn't surprise me to be honest. But bringing out pro model would free up the regular PS5 for others. Although by the time that would be out there will be no stock issues anyway.

shinoff2183565d ago

I agree xbladeteddy.

I think 30 is fine. 60 is nice and I wont complain I also wont complain about 30. To much stock gets put into frames per second I swear

zeuanimals565d ago

Smooth frame pacing is the most important thing and plenty of devs keep missing this mark.

BioShockGX564d ago

Just because your standards are low doesn't mean everyone is. Give me 60fps or no buy.

564d ago
+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 564d ago
Fritzwochel565d ago

Devs get lazier and lazier when it comes to optimisations.. Except for a wee few Switch devs.

SeTTriP565d ago

Has nothing to do with laziness and everything resolution.

Devs want they're games to be showed of and console are not p.c as it can't brute force results.

onisama565d ago (Edited 565d ago )

some are lazy like WB with gotham knights but game like plague tales is too beautiful and graphically demanding and in the future games will be more demanding its always been like this...last gen games started with 1080p game release and ended with 720p and 900p upscaled to 1080p
or was that xbox360/ps3? i dont remember time pass fast

EvertonFC565d ago

It certainly wasn't last gen lol although I think some Xbox one games were 900p twds the end ?

StarkR3ality565d ago

@everton

Both consoles dropped below 1080p, became more prevelant as the gen went on and DRS was introduced in more games to avoid frame drops. Pretty sure some (mainly on Xbox but PS4 too) dropped to 720p, that's why most last gen games look like you're staring through plastic film on a large 4K display.

CantThinkOfAUsername565d ago

Gamers get stupider and stupider when it comes to game development.. Except for a wee few who follow devs.

The3faces565d ago

I know I'm in the minority but I prefer 30fps with all the graphical bells and whistles.

MrNinosan565d ago

Same, always go for Fidelity before Performance, mainly because my TV is so huge that I want to get the best pixelcounts as possible.

obidanshinobi565d ago

A lot of 30fps games look worse the bigger screen you have though.
Horizon FW for example is awful at 30fps on a 50" TV, yet smooth as butter at 60fps.

CS7565d ago

I played Horizon at 30 fps on a 55” TV and loved every second

564d ago
gold_drake565d ago

i honestly just want a game that works without any major bugs.

CS7565d ago

Me too. Regardless of the FPS i stop noticing it after 5-10 minutes of play. Whereas, bad graphics or resolution I notice it the entire time.

Eidolon565d ago

Depends, idk if it's my C7 OLED, or bad optimizations/frame-pacing but some games just don't look good at 30fps. Spiderman: MM played GREAT at 30fps(at least I think it wasn't 40fps, never changed a thing since I got it pre-40fps patch, C7 doesn't have VRR), and actually Rift Apart was more noticeable at 30fps than MM. Dying Light 2 was unplayable af to me at 30fps, and so was HFW and Ghost Wire Tokyo. Demon's Souls was pretty good at 30fps for sure. Few other games I can't think of right now. But really depends on the game, and not necessarily First-person or third-person.

BioShockGX564d ago

Comments like yours is why devs will keep making 30fps games

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 564d ago
angelsx565d ago

I'm not buying any 30fps games for ps5 xbox x any more.

MrVux000565d ago

As always vote with your wallet. That is the best way to push a standards in the industry.

shinoff2183565d ago

You probably gonna miss out on some great games guy

564d ago
CS7565d ago

Plagues Tale looks so good and its from a small developer.

Better than alot of those cross gen games from much bigger studios.

564d ago
+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 564d ago
dazzysima565d ago

No excuse for this. There's no reason why there can't be a 1080p or 1440p option without the likes of RT so a 60fps target can be hit.

lucian229565d ago

Who wants to play 1080p? Lmao I rather 4k and beauty than 60fps any day.

I always choose graphics over frame rate

MrVux000565d ago (Edited 565d ago )

I'd rather take a supersampled 1080p with 60 FPS rather than checkerboard 4K with 30 FPS.

Also ''who wants to play 1080p?''

You do realize majority of people play on 1080p-1440p monitors/TVs?

Yui_Suzumiya565d ago (Edited 565d ago )

I play mostly in 720p though, lol .. Still getting used to 1080p.

BlaqMagiq1565d ago

I will never choose graphics over frame rate. Graphics do not affect gameplay, frame rate does.

Give me silky smooth 60fps over overrated 4K any day.

SurgicalMenace565d ago

As do I, fidelity is paramount. All these people sounding off about fps are only doing so because it's become a topic of discussion, recently.

thecodingart565d ago

Honestly, I’m confounded on people who still want < 4k resolution for 60fps…

564d ago
564d ago
+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 564d ago
Profchaos565d ago

Why not give people options.
With the rise of vrr a 40 fps game for some means it's not really 40 more like 80

Show all comments (127)
70°

Best GPU for V Rising in 2024 - our top picks reviewed

Here's our guide to the best GPUs for V Rising in 2024, now that the game is out of early access - the best from Nvidia, AMD, and even Intel.

got_dam2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

Slow news day, I guess.

70°

MSI releases new RTX 4060 Ti bundle that fans of Monster Hunter will love

MSI celebrates the 20th anniversary of Monster Hunter with this unique bundle that features a matching RTX 4060 Ti and game controller.

290°

Why Xbox believes it must cut costs and close studios

Companies, particularly public companies like Microsoft, need to grow.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
gold_drake1d 14h ago

i mean its pretty simple, they spent close to 30 billion in acquiring activision, they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen.

its just shit that because of MS's miscalculation alot of people lost their jobs.

Jingsing1d 11h ago

This is exactly what many people said would happen including the CMA and FTC. Lies lies and more lies and they allowed a $69 billion buy out to happen.

gold_drake1d 10h ago

oh yeh it was 70 billion. that was my bad haha even worse.

JackBNimble13h ago

MS has educated financial advisers, they knew there was little chance to recoup the 70billion just to break even on the Activision deal let alone whatever other nonsense is going on in MS.
This whole thing was to corner the market for leverage.

thesoftware7301d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

gold,

You can't be serious, right?

Do you think that MS thought they would make 80bill in a year & Half? They haven't even released titles under MS yet, lol.

But in fact, that A/B revenue is already paying off, look at the last earnings call. That $80 billion is long-term money, my guy, no sane person/company would think they would make that back in any short-term situation, it's a long-term investment.

Let's play silly then. If MS's reason for laying off staff and closing studios was due(which it really was not) to the A/B deal, tell me what Sony's reason was for past studio closures, the recent 900-person layoffs, closing Sony London, shutting down Dreams, and closing Japan Studio? Zipper? Psygnosis? cuts at all their internal studios.

Keep in mind, you are claiming MS's reason is because of the A/B deal; please explain Sony's reason.

Hofstaderman1d 10h ago

You actually still defending them? Sheesh.....

gold_drake1d 10h ago

this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt.

and of course not, but im pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. they didnt, and closed off some studios.

its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case.

romulus231d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

(It really was) due to the Activision Blizzard deal and the loss of physical sales due to gamepass. You keep bringing up Sony in all your posts about this, stop deflecting and trying to change the topic, this is about MS and what they are doing.

BehindTheRows1d 10h ago

Has nothing to do with Sony. Stay on topic.

notachance1d 9h ago

once in a while you see someone too invested in their make-believe console war that everything happened has to be connected to said war…

a bit of banter between fans is normal, this crusade you’re doing now isn’t.

Chevalier1d 9h ago

Wow idiotic. You bring up very old closures not that there haven't been recent ones from Playstations, but, seriously stop deflecting. This has NOTHING to do with Playstation.

Does Playstation got $3 trillion behind them and daddies wallet? No they don't so stop making a fool of yourself.

Xbox has never been profitable really and they just keep losing money so between their worst hardware sales, terrible 3rd party sales and now terrible 1st party sales.

Gamepass numbers that are no longer being announced shows their numbers after 3 years of missed targets has flatlined. Plus their recent gains up to 34 million were ONLY because they folded Gold members in too. Absolutely take your idiotic rhetoric out of here. Keep on topic without deflecting.

S2Killinit1d 9h ago

Ayayayay with these xbox/MS excuses.

Reaper22_1d 4h ago

How dare you mention Sony! Everyone here knows when Sony closes a studio and lay off workers it was the right thing to do. Even when they bought Gaikai and fired almost everyone it was the right thing to do.

Gamers can be such hypocrites sometimes.

andy851d 3h ago

Is it? That's revenue not profit. Completely different.

fr0sty18h ago

The earnings call only showcased how dire the situation is... Even with ABK and Bethesda, they still couldn't make enough to keep investors happy, gamepass subs are stagnant, and hardware sales are tanking.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 18h ago
thesoftware7301d 8h ago (Edited 1d 7h ago )

Drake,

"this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt."

You are correct that it's not an MS Vs Sony Topic, but when exaggeration and imagination mix from a one-sided social group, similar examples are needed to ground radical thoughts; in this instance, the example was that shutting down 3,4,5, even 6 studios during a restructure/ buyout/acquisition is not some anomaly(it can suck) that has to be dissected or spell doom and gloom.

"But I'm pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. They didn't, and they closed off some studios."

But they did make more money, a lot, actually; the last earnings call showed a huge growth in profit, almost all due to A/B revenue.

"its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case."

The fact that they did make money, kinda throws this out the window, and besides, you don't wake up and say, hey let's close a studio, you look at the output, you look at the dev as a whole, the long term and short term, you weigh it against all other studios and goals, you keep key members, ect..then you close if they are the weakest links...which by MS analysis they were.

Again, I will make a small Sony comparison, just so some of you can understand and see past the bias; Insomniac, ND, and Bungie have made some of the best games ever created, yet Sony saw fit to cut jobs in every of these studios, even tho Insomniac & ND are the biggest producers of PS games, leagues ahead better than Tango and Arkane, yet, they saw cuts, mind you, while being the TOP produces of PS first party. They were told to cut costs, and more jobs may be on the line, and Bungie is being threatened by a hostile Sony takeover. Put that in perspective, as I know that layoffs and dev closures are different, but if the best of the best is getting cut off, it is less than surprising, that lesser studios are closing.

@Cheva,
My response fits well with your comments as well. You even went on to prove that the dev closures are not just due to A/B acquisition. Then you point out Sony has less money than MS, inferring that MS should keep devs open that they see as lesser earners, while Sony having less money makes it okay to close them. lol...it doesn't work that way.

gold_drake1d 7h ago

im not reading all of that. u have ur opinion, i have mine.

thats rly it.

but this aint sony vs ms.

ApocalypseShadow1d 7h ago

You're trying to compare a 100 billion company to a company that has 3 TRILLION worth. SIE has to live or die on their own. And in turn, PlayStation has helped the main company again and again. Sony has to balance out what is working and not working in the company.

While Xbox has Daddy Warbucks footing the bill to keep the platform afloat. They have been bleeding money from Nvidia hardware in the OG Xbox, the RROD fiasco, the attempted 2013 DRM nonsense and the lies about being the most powerful console in the world and the losses of paying out millions to prop up a service hoping it catches on with enough subscribers to justify its existence.

They're not comparable if Xbox isn't allowed to live or die by its actions. It's subsidized. Revenue isn't profit. And if they were profiting on their own, they wouldn't be closing developers. If they were profiting, they wouldn't need Daddy Warbucks spending 80 to 100 billion buying up 3rd party publishers to sustain a loss leading platform.

They stopped announcing game sales, stopped announcing hardware sales, stopped announcing game pass subscribers, they are putting games on their competitors platforms but you're telling us that they are doing great even after killing jobs and closing developers at Xbox.

Stop drinking the Kool aid. You're drunk.

Chevalier22h ago

Again at which point did Playstation have a $3 trillion company shift the market with a giant purchase?

"But they did make more money, a lot, actually; the last earnings call showed a huge growth in profit, almost all due to A/B revenue."

Lol. No they didn't. Increased revenue was ONLY due to adding Activision Blizzard revenue in. Growth was only 1 percent. It's idiots like you that have no idea what they're talking about is why Xbox isn't better than it is. You guys just make excuses continually.

If Xbox got so much profit then why did they stop announcing hardware numbers? Why did they stop announcing Gamepass numbers? Oh right because they're NOT profitable. Their sales in every category has dropped off the face of the planet. It's why Spencer will be closing more studios and canceling upcoming projects too.

The Wood14h ago

How can they be profitable when they're not selling enough hardware, software or subs. You need take a seat on this one my friend unless you can prove you angles

jwillj2k413h ago

Sony didnt shut down the studios you mentioned after they made last of us or ratchet and clank or destiny. Cutting jobs is not equal to closing studios. Sony cuts are a candle in the sun of Microsoft’s closures.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 13h ago
WelkinCole1d 3h ago

I am pretty sure MS knew this would happen and this was part of their plan. I mean if anyone with half a brain can see this happening I am pretty sure a multi billion company like MS knew this would happen

The whole strategy in buying Beth and Acti/Blizzard is for

1. Buy established games they can have under xbox because they have done a horrible job in building their portfolio internally for the past 15 years

2. Following from 1, try and boost xbox competitivenss against a dominat PS which MS after 3 tries still can't crack

3. Follolwing from 2, try and weaken Playstation dominance by taking out these massive multiplats from the PS

4. Following from 3, try and profit off from the PS domiance with selected games they will still have on the PS to make money like COD

5. Obviously get the IP's by buying them instead of creating them which again as I mentioned in number 1 they have been woeful in doing

None of these had anyting to do with keeping all the devs they accuried. MS has always been very shitty to Devs under them. Look at what happned to Bungie for example.

I believe MS in court truely mean it when they said they had to do something because PS was just too dominant. This was their last roll of the dice.

And from the looks of things. It has not panned out as MS had hoped. PS5 is still as dominant as ever and xbox is still behind. Worse still their MP's they got is not irreplaceable as they thought. Starfield? lol!. There have not been any major shift in momentum in this console war in their favor so now its time to start cutting their loses and it starts with the most expensive cost for any company. People.

Michiel19891d ago

for a comparison, sony laid of a bigger % of it's staff this year than ms, it's what companies sadly do nowadays. If you think with GP and Bethesda + acti aquisition they were looking for quick cash, you couldn't be more wrong. It hasn't even been a year, "they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen." shows you have 0 understanding of how a business operates.

thesoftware73012h ago

@ Michiel1989

Exactly this!

I'm reading these comments, and it's mesmerizing how off-base most of them are.

I posted a few comments above, and their rebuttals have nothing to do with the points that I presented; when they start doing that, I just ignore them because, at that point, they're debating all over the place.

Profchaos18h ago

30 more like 70 to 80 plus 7 for Bethesda

Tzuno13h ago

meanwhile everything turned woke an inevitably went downward, i'd say it serves them well if they promote such kind of approach, mwuahahahahahhh!

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 12h ago
anast1d 11h ago

They are going to use AI for a large portion of the game development process. Upper management need bonuses and the shareholders need more money. So, people will lose their jobs.

Skuletor1d 10h ago

Maybe they were already using AI to make business decisions, which would explain why they closed Hi-Fi Rush's studio, then said they need more games like Hi-Fi Rush not long after that announcement.

Crows901d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

They shouldn't have bought any studios. Some is okay...but they went on a shopping spree...stupid

Einhander19721d 9h ago

The better question is why did Microsoft buy publishers for a service they were subsidizing they knew couldn't support.

And why are so many websites trying to make people feel sorry for Microsoft instead of truly criticizing the fact they are closing studios and killing jobs that would have been fine if Microsoft themselves hadn't gotten involved.

Quit feeling sorry for Microsoft and start feeling sorry for the industry and the all the gamers who are actually losing out.

THIS IS MICROSOFTS FAULT.

RNTody1d 9h ago

The first thing that happens after any major acquisition or merger is a consolidation of the whole new portfolio, which includes cutting any excess, bloat or portfolios that don't fit the larger MO of the big boy. So far, it's been par for the course with Microsoft and that's why gamers have been so against this acquisition. Tango Gameworks is the beginning. You think Microsoft wants to pay to keep small timers like Ninja Theory in business?

There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Microsoft will improve any of these studios, but plenty to suggest that they will get rid of what they don't need and hold onto the IP. The real agenda of the acquisition was always to acquire The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout, Call of Duty, Candy Crush etc. that will create millions in passive revenue stream for Microsoft regardless of where the games release. Microsoft simply wants their cut.

Because of Games Pass Microsoft has no interest in investing in new IP which is risky and requires creative talent they can neither nurture nor manage. Game Pass has also not grown in the way Microsoft expected it to, even post acquisitions. Therefore the logical thing to do, without serious money makers to release, is to cut as much cost as possible.

Show all comments (47)