Crytek: Xbox One X Raw Power A Delightful Surprise, Explains Importance of Backwards Compatibility

Much as the console’s CPU has been a talking point for being underwhelming, Microsoft’s Xbox One X is still extremely powerful. A few visually impressive games like Forza Motorsport 7 have had no trouble running at native 4K resolution and 60 frames per second. Optimization is also a key component in all this though. After all, what’s the point of so much raw power if developers can’t utilize it properly?

GamingBolt spoke to Crytek’s CryEngine product manager Collin Bishop and asked what he found surprising or shocking about working with the console. Bishop responded that, “One thing that was a delightful surprise with the Xbox One X on initial usage was the amount of raw power it had underneath. We had to adjust some texture compression settings, but overall the optimization was minimal on 4K once we were up and running.

“Another thing that aligned closer with our core is the HDR support. With this you can really push the style and look of your scenes without having to redo all of the assets or compromise too heavily on framerate. As you can imagine we were glad to see this delta shortening, pushing us towards consoles reflecting the same development experience over time.”

Will Microsoft’s insistence that all titles taking advantage of the Xbox One X have to be fully compatible with the base Xbox One prove detrimental in the long run? Bishop feels that preserving legacy support is important, to the point that the backlash for not doing so would outweigh the Xbox One X reaching its full potential.

“This is an interesting question considering the background of CRYENGINE and how we have to approach tackling legacy systems and deprecation of tools. Every gamer has this connection to nostalgia and their favorite titles. You can also lose titles too quickly, which will inhibit the growth of franchises, and this is where I see the older titles sitting in the competitive gaming landscape.

“If developers were not maintaining these older systems and having a form of compromise towards the legacy content, the backlash you would receive would outweigh any of the performance gains,” said Bishop.

As time goes on, we’ll probably see another new generation of consoles emerge that will truly provide a leap forward. And who knows, maybe they’ll be playable on more powerful hardware like the Xbox One X. What are your thoughts on the matter? Let us know below.