Metronomik and publisher Sold Out have announced that No Straight Roads – Encore Edition is now available for PS5 and PS4, which makes it the first native launch for the game on PS5. Anyone who already owns the base game gets the Encore Edition for free.

In addition to all previously released post-launch content, Encore Edition also adds over 500 pieces of fan art to collect and use for customization, new remixes, a new opening cinematic, and various quality-of-life improvements, including visual upgrades, audio improvements, an improved multiplayer camera, equipment presets, and more.

Whether No Straight Roads – Encore Edition will also eventually launch for Xbox and Switch remains to be seen.

In our review of No Straight Roads upon its 2020 launch, we gave it a score of 7/10, saying, “No Straight Roads looks great, sounds great, and has great characters- but it has major gameplay issues that bring down the whole experience.” You can read our full review through here.

In addition to PlayStation consoles and PC, No Straight Roads is also available on Xbox One (and playable on Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility) and Nintendo Switch.

"Our games have the goal of respecting our players’ time and input so we’re always looking for ways to include meaningful interaction to help tell emotional beats."

Having made games such as Ether One and The Occupation, you have a reputation for crafting experiences with very unique premises. In light of that, can you talk us through the process of how you landed on what would drive your next game?

Pete Bottomley (Game Designer): As a team we tend to concept together to come up with what our new games will look and feel like. Each department comes at it from what interests them the most creatively. A goal for this game was to have a voice protagonist and for us to double down on puzzle design elements we learnt on Ether One along with the character driven dialogue interactions from The Occupation.

We also like to approach a different time period with each game. So in Conway, we’re setting the game in a North East British town in the 1950s. It wasn’t until these elements came together that we decided to change the game from a first-person perspective to a fixed camera perspective which opened up the opportunities for voice gameplay and cinematic “thrillery” tones to help set the pace.

Observing and profiling suspects is apparently going to be a big part of the experience in Conway: Disappearance at Dahlia View. Can you talk to us about how this will be implemented in gameplay?

Bottomley: There are 3 core loops of gameplay to help observe and profile suspects: observations, search and evidence review. In the observational scenes, it’s a very ‘Rear Window’ approach to gameplay. You’re able to spy on your neighbours at key points throughout the game to find interesting threads to pull at which gives your objectives. The search “gameplay” then allows you to go into their personal spaces to pull at those threads to find key pieces of evidence through solving puzzles. In the “evidence review”, you’re then able to manually pin pieces of evidence together to get your suspect.

Detective stories have to find ways to always keep audiences on their toes, but it seems like you want the story in Conway: Disappearance at Dahlia View to resonate with players on a much more emotional level as well. How does the game strike a balance between those two storytelling responsibilities, so to speak?

Bottomley: I think you can have a well-paced but emotional detective thriller when done right. Our games have the goal of respecting our players’ time and input so we’re always looking for ways to include meaningful interaction to help tell emotional beats. Two tools we’ve been able to utilise in Conway over Ether One or The Occupation are the use of a first-person narrative and the use of camera work to drive gameplay. Since our previous two titles have been first person, we made the conscious effort to try and deliver emotive gameplay through the use of dialogue and camera work. We think we’ve threaded this approach correctly so hopefully our players will resonate with the storytelling when they play Conway.

"Puzzle games are always tough to gauge duration, but from average playtesting results, we’re seeing around 8-9 hours."

What form do interrogations take in the game from a mechanical point of view? Should players expect these to be puzzles in and of itself, or does the game go about this in a different way?

Bottomley: Although there’s a similar structure, we don’t interrogate any of the neighbours in the game. Robert Conway is unofficially working on the case so he doesn’t have the legal tools at his disposal. Instead, he has to root and pry out information from his neighbours to build his case. Mechanically, the conversations will play out in a similar way as the interviews in The Occupation which means that the player unlocks questions based on information they’ve uncovered in the level which then unlocks different dialogue responses.

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of the game be?

Bottomley: Puzzle games are always tough to gauge duration, but from average playtesting results, we’re seeing around 8-9 hours.

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series’ specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS. How much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

David Smith (Platform Programmer): When it comes to the smaller teams working on cross-platform titles, it won’t make that much difference. Ultimately the Unreal Engine is constantly being optimised for both sets of hardware and it’s in Epic’s interest to keep them in line with each other supporting features like ray tracing. We haven’t noticed any significant performance differences between the two consoles during development of Conway.

The first-party studios and platform holder partners will be the ones with the time and resources to push and get the absolute most out of the hardware. We’re really looking forward to seeing what companies like Naughty Dog and The Coalition manage to accomplish on PS5 and Xbox Series respectively.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to the Xbox Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

Bottomley: There’s a dual approach we can take advantage of as developers not only with the faster SSD’s but also in combination with Unreal Engine 5. When you’re creating the larger 3D games that we tend to design at White Paper, streaming the content for the player and knowing how to approach the design of the levels to get them to the most optimal performance takes a lot of time. With quicker loading times, you have less need to design features into loading screens along with the streaming of the content at runtime. Unreal Engine 5 removes the need for this side of development and instead ‘chunks’ the content under the hood. I think you’ll see some big changes to level design with these two upgrades in the development pipeline.

"On PS5 and Xbox Series X, we will have an option to play in native 4K, but we will also be revealing much more detail on graphical options soon."

There is a difference in Zen 2 CPUs of both consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz, whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?

Bottomley: From a developer perspective, we don’t have CPU intensive games. The most amount of processing we do is with AI/characters along with any physics simulations such as cloth. It’s an obvious statement to make, but the more CPU power we have to raise the visual fidelity of gameplay elements the better. The micro difference, although a huge win for larger games making the most of each thread to squeeze out the best performance for players, I don’t think you’d see too much difference in our titles between the two.

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series X and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60fps console. Do you think it will be able to hold up for the graphically intensive next-gen games?

Bottomley: I think the scaling options for players to access the hardware is great. With hardware there’s always a trade between cost vs power. The more hardware options for players to get access to mean there are more titles available to experience which is only a good thing for the games industry.

Super Resolution is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. How do you think this will help game developers?

Bottomley: In a couple of ways. Firstly, very visually intense games created by small teams will have more tools at their disposal to help get their games running to a better visual quality with less graphics programming needed. Obviously you always want to optimise the GPU as much as you can, but sometimes small teams can struggle with this so having extra levers will help in that respect. It also helps older games run at their best possible visual bar without needing to go back and change too much of the content which maintains the long tail of accessing the games later in cycles.

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?

Bottomley: On PS5 and Xbox Series X, we will have an option to play in native 4K, but we will also be revealing much more detail on graphical options soon.

Another developer who feels that way is David Smith of White Paper Games, who is platform programmer on the upcoming mystery adventure title Conway: Disappearance at Dahlia View. Speaking in a recent interview with GamingBolt, when asked specifically about the difference between the GPUs of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, Smith said that ultimately, especially for smaller multiplatform games, those differences aren’t going to count for too much, and that in the end, it will be major first party developers who get the most out of the respective consoles.

“When it comes to the smaller teams working on cross-platform titles, it won’t make that much difference,” Smith said. “Ultimately the Unreal Engine is constantly being optimised for both sets of hardware and it’s in Epic’s interest to keep them in line with each other supporting features like ray tracing. We haven’t noticed any significant performance differences between the two consoles during development of Conway.

“The first-party studios and platform holder partners will be the ones with the time and resources to push and get the absolute most out of the hardware. We’re really looking forward to seeing what companies like Naughty Dog and The Coalition manage to accomplish on PS5 and Xbox Series respectively.”

For the foreseeable future at least, as games continue to release as cross-gen titles, we’re likely not going to see many games fully taking advantage of the newer hardware, but as time goes on, it stands to reason that it will be the big-budget exclusive developers that will squeeze the most out of the machines. Of course, there is the odd multiplatform third party title that does so as well – like Red Dead Redemption 2, for instance – but something like that likely won’t arrive anytime soon.

Our full interview with the developers of Conway: Disappearance at Dalhia View will be live soon, so stay tuned for that. The game launches this Fall for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Speaking in a recent interview with GamingBolt, Bottomley said that the PS5’s SSD, especially when combined with what Unreal Engine 5 will enable developers to do, will allow for some big changes in the future to level design in games in general.

“There’s a dual approach we can take advantage of as developers not only with the faster SSD’s but also in combination with Unreal Engine 5,” Bottomley said. “When you’re creating the larger 3D games that we tend to design at White Paper, streaming the content for the player and knowing how to approach the design of the levels to get them to the most optimal performance takes a lot of time. With quicker loading times, you have less need to design features into loading screens along with the streaming of the content at runtime. Unreal Engine 5 removes the need for this side of development and instead ‘chunks’ the content under the hood. I think you’ll see some big changes to level design with these two upgrades in the development pipeline.”

Of course, we’re still in the early days of this console generation, and it’s probably going to be a while before we see developers really beginning to get the best out of the new consoles. Even so, the potential is quite exciting, and spells some interesting things for the future.

Our full interview with the developers of Conway: Disappearance at Dalhia View will be live soon, so stay tuned for that. The game launches this Fall for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

In No Straight Roads, you play as Mayday and Zuke, an indie rock duo that’s trying to make it big in Vinyl City. It’s a city that lives and breathes music- it’s governed by a musical organization known as No Straight Roads (or NSR) that uses EDM music to generate electricity that powers the whole city. But it’s also an organization that does it to the exclusion of all other types of music, and that’s something that the rock-loving Mayday and Zuke cannot tolerate. When they witness the corruption and elitism that plagues NSR at the highest levels early on in the game, they decide to start a musical revolution, taking back the city district-by-district by beating various NSR artists – each specializing in a sub-genre of EDM – and bringing power and musical variety back to the people of Vinyl.

"This is a game with a lot of heart, one that’s bursting with ambition and creativity- it’s just a shame that it’s held back by a number of significant issues."

It’s a ridiculous premise, and No Straight Roads knows it. In fact, it goes all in on it. This is a game that wears its heart on its sleeve, and nowhere is that more apparent than how blatantly it puts music front and center constantly, often to the point of being cartoonish. But No Straight Roads embraces that cartoonish nature, and with its combination of a bright and colourful art style, memorable and lovable characters, and a soundtrack that slaps, it does so very successfully.

The starring duo personifies that better than anything else in the game. The energetic and hotheaded guitarist May and the calm and chill drummer Zuke make for an excellent pair. Their personalities are very different, but they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, and they’re supported by an excellent cast of secondary characters, whether that’s the artists of NSR you’re taking down one-by-one or the people of Vinyl City who’re helping you do that. The interactions that all of these characters have with each other are great as well, providing genuine heart and charming humour in equal measure, which is a testament to the game’s solid writing. Best of all is the voice acting, which bleeds excessive personality into each character that populates that Vinyl City, especially the ones who take center-stage in this story.

The real star of the show in No Straight Roads, however, is obviously the music. With a game that puts music under such a bright spotlight in every way imaginable, it would be fair to say that a good soundtrack is among the most crucial aspects of the experience, and this is an area where No Straight Roads is an unabashed success. From the various styles of EDM music, to the drum and guitar-heavy rock riffs, to even banging rap battles, No Straight Roads has an absolutely excellent soundtrack. It is, fittingly enough, the game’s biggest strength.

The soundtrack really shines in the boss battles, which make up for the bulk of the game. Each boss battle has one predominant style of music associated with it, depending on which EDM artist you’re taking on, but as you progress through each fight and start wearing your foe down, the music dynamically changes, and rock slowly starts bleeding into its electronic tunes, growing louder and more prominent as you get closer and closer to victory. It creates a powerful effect, and serves as an excellent marriage of music and gameplay progression.

"From the various styles of EDM music, to the drum and guitar-heavy rock riffs, to even banging rap battles, No Straight Roads has an absolutely excellent soundtrack. It is, fittingly enough, the game’s biggest strength."

These set-piece boss encounters are bursting with creativity in other ways as well, with each boss fight almost feeling like musical homages to the wacky and psychedelic shenanigans of something like Psychonauts. Each EDM artist you take on is essentially an exaggerated personification of the type of music they specialize in, and their boss fights reflect that, too. When you’re taking on a DJ obsessed with the vast stretches of the universe, you fight against his towering figure as large planetary disco balls orbit around him and asteroids are hurled in your direction. When you take on a digital idol, you find yourself in a virtual world where you have to take down several shields before you can damage her, one each put up by her character designer, voice actor, animator, and video editor. Every boss fight is bonkers and holds nothing back in terms of creativity, and each is a visual and aural delight.

So No Straight Roads clearly has some notable strengths- it looks great, it sounds great, and it tells an engaging story thanks to its excellent cast. But when you look beneath this admittedly dazzling surface, you find a deeply flawed – and ultimately mediocre – game.

No Straight Roads tries to fuse its beat ’em up combat with rhythm game trappings, but it doesn’t do it very well. Enemies attack to the beat of the music, and paying attention to musical cues is how you dodge their attacks. That sounds great on paper, and when it works – when you’re in tune with the soundtrack and are dodging incoming attacks flawlessly – it feels great. The problem is that that isn’t a strict requirement. You can brute force your way through most combat encounters with button mashing, which cheapens the whole premise.

It doesn’t help that the combat itself is very shallow, not only because there isn’t a whole lot you can do other than shooting projectiles, using your basic melee attack, and the couple of special moves you can map to your triggers, but also because there isn’t a ton of enemy variety, and the few enemies that you do run into don’t pose much of a challenge. There is a skill tree that allows you to unlock or upgrade new moves, and you can slap stickers onto your instruments for passive buffs, but both of these systems make a negligible difference, and end up feeling like an afterthought. You can also switch between May and Zuke during combat (when playing solo), but the differences between how the two play and control feel very superficial. Zuke’s attacks are faster, May’s are more powerful- but the game doesn’t ever do much to make that difference feel meaningful.

"No Straight Roads clearly has some notable strengths- it looks great, it sounds great, and it tells an engaging story thanks to its excellent cast. But when you look beneath this admittedly dazzling surface, you find a deeply flawed – and ultimately mediocre – game. "

Other issues rear their heads as well. The camera in particular is quite problematic. While you’re given full control of the camera in the free-roaming sections in Vinyl City, combat encounters all impose fixed camera angles on you. This is a problem because you can’t always judge depth accurately, which leads to both, inaccurate dodging and attacks that don’t find their mark- and it happens frequently enough to become a nuisance. The camera issues are made even worse when you’re forced to engage in light platforming sections – of which there’s quite a few in the game – and these issues are further exacerbated by floaty and unreliable movement.

The result is a combat system that feels all too shallow- and going hand-in-hand with that shallowness is tiring repetition, brought on by No Straight Roads’ structure. The boss encounters I mentioned earlier are easily the best part of the game, but bridging the gap between each of them are light exploration sections in Vinyl City, following by short “approach” sections preceding boss fights that see you fighting grunts and regular enemies. The focus on combat here is the obvious issue- perhaps the game would feel less repetitive if it had better, more satisfying combat. As it exists, it starts wearing thin very quickly.

Exploring Vinyl City is also an inconsistent experience, but it’s still somewhat better. You can interact with a diverse cast of NPCs, collect qwasa tubes that you use to power up dead lights and electronics to restore electricity to the city (which helps you gain more fans, which in turn unlocks more tiers in your skill tree), or look for the aforementioned stickers that grant passive buffs. The city is fairly small, but it looks great. It’s bright and colourful, and each new district that you unlock brings a distinct visual flavour with it- so at least it’s a treat for the eyes.

But much like the rest of the game, though Vinyl City has superficial strengths, exploring it feels mechanically meaningless. You get far too many qwasa tubes, even though powering up electronics doesn’t require too much, which means you’re always left with a surplus. Powering them up doesn’t make too much of a difference either, because you don’t get too many fans by doing this, and defeating bosses remains the best way to net large quantities of fans. Collecting stickers is fun for a while, but once you realize that the buffs they provide are pretty insignificant, you start losing interest.

"Perhaps the game would feel less repetitive if it had better, more satisfying combat. As it exists, it starts wearing thin very quickly."

The sewers that May and Zuke call their home are much more consistently charming though. This home base makes for a great hub location- it’s where you return after every major mission to feed your pets, interact with NPCs, talk with your teammates about your next major step, upgrade your weapons and level up your characters, or just play minigames on the arcade machine. As you progress through the story, you add more rooms to the hub that serve different purposes. Thanks to all of this and more, I found myself looking forward to returning to the sewers quite often.

No Straight Roads is a game of ups and downs, but at the end of the day, one thing is abundantly clear- it’s a game with a lot of superficial strengths, and significant gameplay issues. But calling its strengths “superficial” seems unfair, because they’re so crucial to the kind of experience this is- the music is absolutely killer, the bright and dazzling art style is a sight to behold, and the characters, their writing, and their voice acting are also highlights of the experience. The problem is that your active engagement in this experience comes through mechanics and systems that are either unpolished, or shallow, or repetitive- or worst of all, all three.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

For as similar as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are, from their AMD Zen 2 CPUs to the RDNA 2 GPUs, there are a number of differences between them. They’re both out this holiday season and we’ve yet to really learn much about prices or release dates. But which console comes out on top remains to be seen.

To that end, GamingBolt spoke to Metronomik’s Wan Hazmer, game director of action adventure title No Straight Roads. The title is out on August 25th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. What is Hazmer’s take on the differences between the PS5 and Xbox Series X?

He highlighted an important aspect of both – the overall user experience. “We’re sure the technology of both systems has its pros and cons, but what we’re looking forward to most is what these consoles bring to the user experience in the end, not only in terms of the games themselves but also the services that are attached to these games. Sure, we can make fully seamless games with a faster SSD and richer graphics with a better core processor, and to be honest we’re very excited to develop for both, but at the end of the day, it’s the end user-experience that matters.”

“We want to see how these systems would integrate with the lifestyle and interests of the user outside of the game. In the field of music, it’s important for us to not only see the audio tech but also how these systems utilize the metaverse of cultures in its ecosystem, how well these systems understand the user, how it integrates with music libraries, online communities, etc. Creating a crafted experience that would seamlessly touch upon the user’s area of relevance in certain points would be wonderful, in a next-gen sort of way.”

It’s an interesting point of view, especially considering how each console is approaching the end user experience in different ways. The PS5 is focused on hardware innovations, particularly with its DualSense and architecture. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X is emphasizing services like Smart Delivery, Game Pass and cross-gen compatibility.

At least the wait for more information won’t be long. The Xbox Series X is confirmed to be receiving new details this month while Sony is rumored to have an announcement for the PS5. Stay tuned for any updates in the meantime.

The full range of specs for both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X has now been revealed, and while the debate over which of the two consoles is more powerful will rage on for many years to come, one thing that cannot be questioned is that they’re both incredibly impressive pieces of hardware, and they both come with unique advantages in various areas.

One element of both consoles’ specs that we’ve known about for a while now is that they will both be making use of AMD’s Zen 2 CPU (or different variations of it, at any rate), which is a pretty significant step up over current-gen consoles. But how much of an impact will this have on game development and the sort of games we’ll be playing? In an interview with Erwan LeCun, co-founder Ape Tribe Games – developer of the upcoming cyberpunk stealth action-RPG Disjunction – that is one of many questions we asked, and LeCun had some very positive things to say about the next-gen consoles’ processors.

According to LeCun, the Zen 2 CPUs should result in “significant boosts in performance for most games,” while developers can expect to be able to make better looking and better running games.

“The benchmarks for the new CPU have it clocking in around three times more powerful than current-gen CPUs, which will lead to significant boosts in performance for most games,” said LeCun. “In terms of the development, it will allow us to make prettier games that run better.”

LeCun also spoke to us about the PS5’s haptic-enabled controller, which he thinks is “a cool feature,” but remains skeptical of whether developers will do much to put it to use in any meaningful way.

“The PS5’s haptic-enabled controller is definitely a cool feature, but I’m skeptical about whether most developers will specifically put in the effort to make their games use it,” he said. “For games that launch on several systems, it can be hard work to target specific features on specific consoles if only a subset of your userbase will experience them.”

In the same interview, LeCun also spoke to us about the Xbox Series X’s 12 teraflops GPU- read more on that through here. You can read our full interview with him through here.

Ape Tribe Games’ Disjunction is due out for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC some time later this year, but doesn’t yet have a concrete release date.

"We really didn’t want to force players one way or the other, and the game lets you customize your characters for whichever playstyle you prefer."

How divergent can Disjunction’s branching storylines be in terms of the choices players make? Are we looking at completely different ways the story could end for all of its main characters?

Just like the old RPGs that we’re inspired by, Disjunction features a whole bunch of different endings based on the choices that players make. Each of the three playable characters in Disjunction will have their own specific endings, and the main story arc of the game will also change significantly depending on how the choices the player has made throughout the game. We definitely wanted to make the player feel like their choices mattered and had realistic consequences.

Does Disjunction encourage players to approach situations stealthily, or are stealth and combat both equally viable options?

Both stealth and combat are completely viable gameplay options in Disjunction. We really didn’t want to force players one way or the other, and the game lets you customize your characters for whichever playstyle you prefer. Of course, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going in guns blazing every time without a backup plan.

Can players stealth through boss fights as well?

We actually decided early on that Disjunction wasn’t going to feature boss fights, specifically because it would break the design philosophy of both stealth and combat being purely optional mechanics. In lieu of boss fights, we just have a few extra hard levels!

Does Disjunction allow pacifist run playthroughs?

Absolutely!

How in-depth are Disjunction’s progression mechanics, given that the game allows players to approach situations in a variety of ways?

Each of the three playable characters in Disjunction have four unique character abilities. In terms of progression, there is an Upgrade Tree for each character that allows players to choose between one of two upgrades for each of their unique character abilities. On top of that, there is a Talent Tree that gives passive benefits to things like sneaking capability, weapon effectiveness, and health boosts.

The progression system is deep, and definitely allows for players to play Disjunction however they want.

"The progression system is deep, and definitely allows for players to play Disjunction however they want."

Can you talk to us about how much Disjunction’s playable characters differ from each other in terms of mechanics and how they play?

Each character in Disjunction is suited for both stealthy and/or violent gameplay, but they definitely handle situations very differently from each other. For example, Joe has a shotgun and a Charge ability that lets him close distances with enemies very quickly. Spider, on the other hand, has a Holoprojector ability that lets her distract guards while she slips past them through the shadows.

The game doesn’t necessarily push you to be more violent with Joe than with Spider, though. Charge can be used to quickly dash behind cover to avoid being seen, while Holoprojector can be used to position guards to more easily mow them down with Spider’s SMG. It’s all a matter of how the player wants to approach situations.

Roughly how long is an average playthrough of Disjunction?

That’s a tough thing to estimate, since players can be either sneaky and methodical, or swift and violent. On average, I’d say a playthrough of Disjunction would take between six to eight hours. Keep in mind, the many different playstyles and endings make Disjunction a game you can play through multiple times.

With next-gen approaching, have you given any thought to bringing the game to the PS5 and Xbox Series X?

We’re currently only focused on current-gen consoles, but there’s nothing stopping us from going to next-gen in the future!

Will the game will feature Xbox One X and PS4 Pro-specific enhancements? Is 4K/60 FPS on the cards?

We have plans for 60fps, but 4K doesn’t add much to a pixel art game like ours.

How is the game running on the original Xbox One and PS4, in terms of frame rate and resolution?

1080p and 60fps.

What are the docked and undocked resolution and frame rate of the Switch version?

The docked resolution is 720p, and undocked is 1080p, running at 60fps.

"On average, I’d say a playthrough of Disjunction would take between six to eight hours. Keep in mind, the many different playstyles and endings make Disjunction a game you can play through multiple times."

There’s been a lot of talk of SSDs, which the PS5 and the Xbox Series X are both confirmed to feature. What’s the biggest impact it’s going to have on development, according to you?

The big thing for development is that SSDs will lead to shorter load/compile times, which will allow for faster iteration when making a game. I look forward to the day (in the pretty near future) where SSDs are ubiquitous.

Speaking of next-gen hardware, something else that the PS5 and the Xbox Series X are both going to have is a Zen 2 CPU- how big of a leap is it over current-gen hardware in your view, and how is it going to help development?

The benchmarks for the new CPU have it clocking in around three times more powerful than current-gen CPUs, which will lead to significant boosts in performance for most games. In terms of the development, it will allow us to make prettier games that run better.

The Xbox Series X also features GDDR6 memory- what’s the impact it will have on games in conjunction with the other advancements we’re going to see in next-gen consoles?

Memory is memory – more of it is always good, though for a lot of games it won’t necessarily make a noticeable difference. Memory has never been the main bottleneck of consoles in terms of performance, but it’s great to get more of it!

Backward compatibility is something else both new consoles are banking on quite heavily. How much of an impact do you think it will have from the perspective of both, developers and consumers?

Backward compatibility is a huge convenience for both consumers and developers. For indie developers who make low-system requirement games, it essentially means that we can develop for current-gen systems and not have to worry about a whole new port for next-gen consoles when they release.

What’s your take on the PS5’s haptic-enabled controller? Do you think it’s something that can significantly add to an experience, or is it just going to be a novelty?

The PS5’s haptic-enabled controller is definitely a cool feature, but I’m skeptical about whether most developers will specifically put in the effort to make their games use it. For games that launch on several systems, it can be hard work to target specific features on specific consoles if only a subset of your userbase will experience them.

"The big thing for development is that SSDs will lead to shorter load/compile times, which will allow for faster iteration when making a game. I look forward to the day (in the pretty near future) where SSDs are ubiquitous."

The Xbox One X features 12 TFLOPs of GPU. How will this impact video game graphics?

This is the most important upgrade that new consoles will have. GPUs make the biggest difference in the graphical quality of games, and the GPUs in next-gen consoles are significantly more powerful than current-gen ones. For AAA games, graphics will continue to improve.

Every bit of new information Microsoft have revealed about the Xbox Series X so far has impressed the entire industry at large, and it’s truly looking like the console is going to be a powerhouse when it launches later this year (if it does, that is).

Multiple developers have spoken about the potential of its hardware. Recently, we spoke with Erwan LeCun, co-founder Ape Tribe Games, developer of the upcoming cyberpunk stealth action-RPG Disjunction, and LeCun had quite a lot to say about the Xbox Series X and all that’s been revealed about it so far.

In particular, when asked about the console’s 12 teraflops GPU, he called it “the most important upgrade that new consoles will have.”

“This is the most important upgrade that new consoles will have,” said LeCun. “GPUs make the biggest difference in the graphical quality of games, and the GPUs in next-gen consoles are significantly more powerful than current-gen ones. For AAA games, graphics will continue to improve.”

LeCun, however, was much less excited about the console’s greater memory capabilities. When asked about the Xbox Series X’s GDDR6 memory, he said that while it will be great to have, it ultimately “won’t necessarily make a noticeable difference.”

“Memory is memory – more of it is always good, though for a lot of games it won’t necessarily make a noticeable difference,” he said. “Memory has never been the main bottleneck of consoles in terms of performance, but it’s great to get more of it!”

Disjunction is due out for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC some time later this year, but doesn’t yet have a concrete release date. Our full interview with LeCun will be going live soon, so stay tuned for the whole thing.

DayZ came out on PS4 finally after a lengthy wait at the end of last month. It was big news for the game and those waiting, but it’s not the only good news  as it seems that those who have been putting off surviving in a harsh and unforgiving environment because of the lack of a disc will get their chance. The game is now confirmed to be getting a physical release this year.

It was announced today by publisher Sold Out that they will publish a physical copy of the game on both PS4 and Xbox One. The game is noted for its intense survival gameplay, where you are given minimal resources and must scavenge for more  as you face deadly threats in a post-zombie outbreak. Up to 60 survivors can be on one server, all trying their hand at surviving.

DayZ is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC digitally. The physical release is scheduled to come out sometime later this year for the PS4 and Xbox One versions.