"We plan to have 2019 fully packed with new content and features."

Perhaps the thing War Thunder gets praised most for above all else is the game’s clear love for its literally thousands of aircraft, tanks, and ships, which are all designed so well- is it fair to say that that is an area of passion for you as developers as well?

It’s definitely our passion. Most of our development team were born and raised in the Soviet Union, and we knew about WW2 and the Victory from the very childhood. Most of us have grandparents or great grandparents who fought in WW2. We admire and respect what they’ve done, and we’ve been always interested in the history and vehicles of WW2 and later.

There is no shortage of content in War Thunder right now, but do you have plans for any major content line up by way of post-launch support?

Major content updates happen in War Thunder every 2-3 months, and each of them brings dozens of new vehicles and adds new maps and new mechanics. In 2018 we had 5 major updates, which included the release on Xbox One, Naval Battles open beta launch, addition of helicopters, supersonic jets, and many more. We plan to have 2019 fully packed with new content and features as well!

Some players often say that the economy in War Thunder can be a little grindy- is that something that you feel is simply a byproduct of being a free-to-play title, or are there perhaps other F2P games that you’re always looking at to improve War Thunder in similar areas as well?

We’ve been adding new content to the game since its launch, and we are regularly adopting the game economy to the new conditions. In both 2017 and 2018, we have only decreased total time needed in-game to unlock each vehicle – by both lowering requirements and increasing gains. War Thunder is a unique game and there are no titles on the market which we could just copy in terms of progression system.

How do you achieve the balance of being able to appease both, hardcore simulation enthusiasts as well as more casual-minded players looking for a more accessible experience?

War Thunder’s success started with our invention of “mouse-aim” controls, which opened the skies for millions of (relatively) casual players, who hadn’t had flightsticks, but were eager to take themselves to the skies. For all types of vehicles we provide players with three different levels of difficulty in the battles (arcade, realistic, simulation). Though War Thunder’s Arcade mode is more realistic than most of the other arcade games on the market, it still has quite a low entry threshold, and at the same time it doesn’t completely sacrifice vehicle physics simulation. Arcade mode invites war games enthusiasts to try a more realistic approach, while they can still be efficient in battles and have fun without long training in advance. And we can see an ongoing migration of players from Arcade mode to Realistic battles, and further to Simulation.

"The Nintendo Switch is an interesting platform. We have our SDK and development kits and we are currently testing various technical solutions of porting War Thunder’s engine to this console."

What is the biggest change that you feel you’ve implemented in War Thunder since the very first days of its availability?

The biggest change happened with the addition of Ground Forces. It not only brought a new type of vehicles to the game, but created a completely new type of battles – combined ones, which added a great variety of tactics. Players need to decide whether they want to focus on capturing the bases on the ground, make a quick aerial attack to stop enemy offensive, jump to a SPAAG to cover their teammates from attacks from above, and a lot more. All of that in constantly changing conditions on the battlefield. At the same time, this complex gameplay needed to be well balanced. There was a huge job done on our side, and that was completely worth it, because War Thunder Combined Battles is the feature that gives players unique battle experience.

Are there any major changes that you have your eyes on in the foreseeable future?

We have many big updates and improvements planned for the near future. The constantly expanding army of modern ground forces and aircraft brings new gameplay and tactics, with the new types of armament and new technologies, like controlled missiles, radio-location systems, and others. There’s much more to come soon, stay tuned!

Do you have any plans for releasing War Thunder on the Switch?

The Nintendo Switch is an interesting platform. We have our SDK and development kits and we are currently testing various technical solutions of porting War Thunder’s engine to this console.

You recently called out Sony for not having enabled cross-play for War Thunder, in spite of the game being built with the feature in mind- why do you think Sony have so far not budged on it, and is that something that can be frustrating?

First of all, Sony does have cross-play, they were the first in current generation to introduce it – with PC. What they don’t have is cross-console-play for most of the games – yet. Sony seems to have some reasons for not launching cross-console-play for everyone right now, and unfortunately, they don’t share it with the public, so we are not aware of them. We hope that the latest interview at Game Informer means that the process of getting cross-play clearance is going to get faster.

Do you believe cross-play is something that actively benefits any game?

Cross-play is almost essential for multiplayers games, especially those with tier-based matchmaking. Splitting the audience between different platforms significantly increases the time players spend in a queue waiting for battle. And of course cross-play lets you play with your friends on other platforms. Thus you are having more fun and get to the battles faster. All of that is making the gaming experience better. So we are sure that full cross-play is the future of gaming. Some argue that it can put console players at a disadvantage (playing on gamepad vs playing with a mouse and keyboard in shooters), however this argument is actually about cross-play with PC, which is already allowed by all platform-holders, and it’s strength heavily depends on the game genre.

"I’m almost sure that cloud gaming will be available in the new generation of consoles."

Next gen is coming sooner or later. From a development perspective, what is your biggest expectation from PS5 and Xbox Scarlett?

I’m almost sure that cloud gaming will be available in the new generation of consoles. In that case we should see cheaper consoles, which will open the world of console gaming for more players, and that’s great for both gamers and game developers. Developers can be adding more hi-tech graphics features to their games as cloud gaming will make it available for a wider audience. An the same time, usual “computing power leap” is inevitable. The “end” of the current generation brought us 4k and 30fps with the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X, so I expect we will see more of it. Retail part of game distribution is already weak, which brings some challenge to platform holders in the next generation – retail stores were not only getting their margin, but also provided visibility for games and consoles.

What is your take on the ongoing drama of loot boxes and microtransactions?

Microtransactions and loot-boxes have been in f2p games for at least a decade already, but have drawn so much attention only after they appeared in premium games in its worst case. The reason is obvious – players are paying full-price for a game already, and they feel cheated by having f2p monetization mechanics in addition, especially if such mechanics provides unfair advantages (pay-to-win). The outcome was not good for the industry. Some countries even made unclear laws, which can basically equate all games with rewards (not only those with loot-boxes, but any in-game rewards) with gambling.

I hope it will settle to more reasonable and clear rules on the market, but in the moment it has damaged the industry.

There’s little doubt in anybody’s mind at this point that cloud technology is going to be huge not long from now. While it’s unlikely that cloud gaming will be completely replacing traditional consoles as the primary way of playing games anytime soon, there’s enough evidence to suggest that the next few years will see some of the biggest players in the industry making a huge push for the technology, for future proofing, if nothing else.

The likes of Microsoft, Google, and EA are all investing in the cloud already, while reports have pegged Apple and reportedly even Nintendo (through a partnership with Microsoft, of all things) to be looking into it as well, not to mention the fact that Ubisoft and Square Enix have both expressed their confidence in cloud gaming as well. It’s clear, then, that some of the most major players in the industry are putting a great deal of confidence in cloud gaming.

Recently, we conducted an interview with War Thunder developers Gaijin Entertainment, and the studio’s CEO, Anton Yudintsev, is pretty much on the same page. According to Yudintsev, the advent of cloud gaming is going to spell great things for both developers and players, thanks to the industry probably being able to reach wider audiences- though he does think that traditional retail sales of games might suffer as a result.

“I’m almost sure that cloud gaming will be available in the new generation of consoles,” Yudintsev said in conversation with GamingBolt. “In that case we should see cheaper consoles, which will open the world of console gaming for more players, and that’s great for both gamers and game developers. Developers can be adding more hi-tech graphics features to their games as cloud gaming will make it available for a wider audience.”

“At the same time, usual ‘computing power leap’ is inevitable,” he continued. “The ‘end’ of the current generation brought us 4k and 30fps with the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X, so I expect we will see more of it. Retail part of game distribution is already weak, which brings some challenge to platform holders in the next generation – retail stores were not only getting their margin, but also provided visibility for games and consoles.”

Our full interview with Yudintsev will be going live soon, so stay tuned.

War Thunder developers Gaijin Entertainment have been among a few developers who’ve recently called out Sony for their inconsistent cross-platform play policies, with some studios saying that their games have been blocked from implementation of cross-play on PS4 with other consoles, even while others such as Fortnite and Rocket League have been given the go-ahead by Sony.

Recently, in an interview with Game Informer, PlayStation boss Shawn Layden suggested that that wasn’t the case, and that Sony is open to implementing cross-play in games owing to how well it has worked out with Fortnite (though yet another indie developer would promptly go on to dispute that).

We recently got the chance to send across a few questions to War Thunder developers Gaijin Entertainment, and asked them for their take on recent developments following their statements regarding Sony. When asked, Gaijin CEO Anton Yudintsev said that he is not aware of Sony’s reasons for doing what they have been doing, but remained hopeful that Layden’s recent (aforementioned) interview with Game Informer would lead to positive developments in the future.

“First of all, Sony does have cross-play, they were the first in current generation to introduce it – with PC,” Yudintsev said while speaking with GamingBolt. “What they don’t have is cross-console-play for most of the games – yet. Sony seems to have some reasons for not launching the cross-console-play for everyone right now, and unfortunately, they don’t share it with the public, so we are not aware of them. We hope that the latest interview at Game Informer means that the process of getting cross-play clearance is going to get faster.”

We then asked Yudintsev about his views on cross-play in general, and whether he feels it has any tangible benefits on games. His answer was a resoundingly affirmative one.

“Cross-play is almost essential for multiplayers games, especially those with tier-based matchmaking,” Yudintsev said. “Splitting the audience between different platforms significantly increases the time players spend in a queue waiting for battle. And of course, cross-play lets you play with your friends on other platforms. Thus you are having more fun and get to the battles faster. All of that is making the gaming experience better. So we are sure that full cross-play is the future of gaming. Some argue that it can put console players at a disadvantage (playing on a gamepad vs mouse and keyboard in shooters), however this argument is actually about cross-play with PC, which is already allowed by all platform-holders, and its strength heavily depends on the game genre.”

Recently, Gaijin issued a similar statement, saying that their hope remains for Sony’s policies to change for the better in the future, while re-iterating the importance of full cross-play in general. Read more about that through here.

Our full interview with Yudintsev will be going live soon, so stay tuned.

The cross-platform play controversy has come out into the open again recently, thanks to multiple smaller developers calling Sony out on alleged favoritism when it comes to allowing implementation of the feature on their console. Sony’s Shawn Layden refuted these claims, only for another developer to explicitly and flatly disagree with what he had said, which only added to the drama.

Now, Gaijin Entertainment, the folks who originally called Sony out on their lack of consistency when it comes to cross-platform play, have issued a follow-up statement to Wccftech, where they very explicitly say that most developers are now ready to implement the feature, unlike back when War Thunder first launched, and the feature was relatively new.

“Most, if not all the developers whose titles support cross-play are ready to ‘toggle the switch’ and let full cross-play happen,” they say in their statement. “We’ll be happy if the quote from the Game Informer interview means that getting cross-play clearance will get faster, and will be waiting for the news from our account manager.”

They add that they laud Nintendo and Microsoft for not putting any obstacles in the way of the implementation of the feature, noting the various benefits provided by cross-platform play, and talking about further additions that can be made to make the experience richer for players, such as cross-platform parties and voice chat.

“At Gaijin, we are happy to see that Microsoft and Nintendo went further, allowing cross-console play for all the developers. We are sure that full cross-play is the future of gaming, considering the constantly growing popularity of online titles. For these games, especially those with tier base matchmaking, cross-play is almost essential, as it significantly shortens waiting time for a battle, thus providing better gaming experience. Not to mention that cross-play allows gamers to play with their friends, no matter which platform they are using.

“United matching would be a big step on the way to full cross-play, but only the first one. Voice chat is also important and it’s good to see that Sony allows developers to have cross-platform voice chats in their games. All platform holders should probably iron out their positions on voice/regular chats, ideally allowing seamless experience in all cross-play games for all players regardless of the platform they personally prefer. Next big thing will be cross-platform account migration when players can either play on PC using their console accounts or switch from PC to console saving the progress and purchases. But united matching is what can be already done to provide players with a better gaming experience.”

There are many who like to claim that there are no benefits to something like cross-platform play, but increasingly, we are seeing developers come out and provide tangible evidence of how a game can benefit from the feature. Hopefully, all this noise causes Sony to buckle in full when it comes to cross-platform play with other consoles.

We’ve seen a whole lot of developers begin to call Sony out on the favouritism they are allegedly exhibiting when it comes to allowing developers to implement cross-platform play with other consoles on PS4. While Fortnite and Rocket League both allow it, Sony’s original announcement was careful in stating that they would only allow “select” games to have the functionality.

And yet, in an interview with Game Informer, PlayStation boss Shawn Layden seemed to refute any such claims, suggesting that Sony does not play favorites, and any developer who wants to implement the feature in their game simply needs to apply with their PlayStation account manager.

“We got to that place in Fortnite and it seems to be going reasonably well, from what I can tell,” he said. “The Rocket League light up will happen soon. People keep saying, “Why doesn’t Sony allow more people to have it?” We’re open for business on this one. All it takes is for publishers and developers who wish to permission it. As ever, just work with your PlayStation account manager, and they will walk you through the steps that we’ve learned through our partnership with Epic on how this works. I don’t believe right now there is any gating factor on that. I think they’re open to make proposals, because the Fortnite thing worked pretty well.”

Someone is very clearly not being entirely upfront in this situation. Sony’s original update on this matter explicitly stated that they will only allow select third party games to enable the functionality, so either the policy changed recently (in the wake of Fortnite’s success with this program, as Layden seems to suggest), or he himself isn’t that familiar with how his company is handling the functionality. Whatever it is, I hope all parties involved figure this thing out soon, so that we can start seeing more cross-platform play in future games.

Full cross-platform play consolidating the user bases of PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, and PC finally seems to be a thing, with Sony, the last holdout, beginning to allow it for games such as Fortnite and Rocket League. You would think that would be the end of the whole cross-platform play controversy. But sadly, it is not.

It turns out that Sony is being pretty selective about what games are allowed to be fully cross-platform play compatible on their system, and don’t allow it for every game, as Microsoft and Nintendo do. One such game that isn’t being allowed to do so, in spite of being built for that from the get go, is War Thunder. Speaking to Wccftech, the developers of the game stated that in spite of asking Sony for permission to allow complete cross-play multiple times, they have been turned down.

“From its initial release on PlayStation 4 as a launch title, War Thunder was a cross-platform game,” they said. “One of the first on the console’s new generation. After the release on Xbox One, it still is. PC users can play together with their PlayStation 4 or Xbox One friends, and the only cross-play which is not available is between the two consoles. We asked Sony for it multiple times, before the Xbox One version launch and when the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta was announced, but we haven’t received clearance yet. Technically War Thunder is ready to become a fully cross-platform title, as it was designed to be from the very beginning.”

It’s a shame that Sony is still being a stick in the mud about this cross-platform play thing, because as has now been incontrovertibly shown, they stand to lose nothing, and gain a lot of goodwill and PR, by just going along with it. Hopefully, they just concede the point entirely soon enough.

Though it’s often against the very point of the medium of video games, more and more we look for realism in video games- realism in visuals, in the way they tell their stories, in their mechanics, in the world. And there’s a very good reason for that- that greater sense of realism lends more believability to the virtual world we find ourselves in, making it more immersive and easier to invest in. Sure, realism isn’t something that’s required in every game – in fact in many kinds of games it actively works against them – but where it fits, and is done well, it can be a powerful tool. It can be something that’s found throughout the game, or something that defines singular moments in games that might not otherwise be too realistic.

In this feature, we’re going to take a look at fifteen games that fit the bill- games that were either almost too realistic or times, or had maybe a few choice moments of realism, but made it all work surprisingly well. Do keep that last bit in mind- we’re not suggesting that a game with dinosaurs in it or another where you can slow down time to gun down your enemies in a single flurry are realistic- only that they offer moments of realism.

With that out of the way, let’s jump right in.

SURVIVAL MECHANICS IN RUST

 By definition, survival games are built around some degree of realism, where your character is much more vulnerable, and there’s a lot of things you need to be mindful of to make sure of your, well, survival. But Rust often take is one step further. From diseases to weather, from health to severely limited resources, from the game itself to the hostile environment it creates for all players (who’re all constantly turning on one another), Rust is a game that can actively stress you out. That, of course, means, that it isn’t for everyone, but for those who get into it, there’s a lot to lose yourself in.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-times-your-favorite-video-games-were-too-realistic/feed 0 380776 https://gamingbolt.com/war-thunder-ps4-xbox-one-cross-play-was-an-unforeseen-error-says-dev https://gamingbolt.com/war-thunder-ps4-xbox-one-cross-play-was-an-unforeseen-error-says-dev#respond Thu, 01 Nov 2018 11:03:33 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=370436

Vehicular combat MMO War Thunder launched on Xbox One earlier this year in June, after having already been on PS4 and PC for several years. Recently, some users had been reporting that cross-play between PS4 and Xbox One versions of War Thunder was actually possible, something that neither Gaijin, nor Microsoft or Sony seemed to be aware of.

However, Gaijin have confirmed to PlayStation Universe that the enabling of cross-play only happened as a side effect of enabling cross-play with the game’s PC version (which is officially allowed on both consoles), and that though they had tested to make sure there wasn’t cross-play between the game’s PS4 and Xbox One versions, a few “corner cases” slipped through the cracks. The issue has now been fixed server-side by Gaijin.

“It was an unforeseen side-effect of enabling cross-play squads for Xbox One (with PC), which happened on 25th of October (last Thursday),” Gaijin said in their statement, “and although we specifically tested that it was not allowing cross-console-play with PlayStation 4 players, we have missed some corner cases. The issue has been fixed already on a server side. In the meantime, we continue to wait for when this will be allowed officially for our game.”

Well, hopefully, cross-play between both console versions of War Thunder will be officially enabled sooner rather than later. After Sony’s decision to do that for Fortnite in September, the door has opened for other games to follow suit, so I wouldn’t bet against the possibility.

After releasing on PS4, PC, Linux, Mac OS X and even Android, War Thunder will be making its way to the Xbox One and Xbox One X. To learn more about the future – including information on the next big faction – GamingBolt spoke to Gaijin Entertainment CEO Anton Yudintsev.

"We have always envisioned France being added to War Thunder, given that it is home to one of the most important military forces and features many interesting vehicles."

You recently completed 5 years with War Thunder. How is the environment in the company?

Peachy, never better! We’ve been constantly expanding the War Thunder universe. We have transitioned from online flight simulation game to one of the most comprehensive online war simulation titles. With hundreds of vehicles of various kinds all fighting together on the same battlefield. We are also happy to see that our players love the game and have supported us for all these years.

Let me get the big question out of the way. Are you working on any new projects besides War Thunder?

Gaijin Entertainment is not only a developer, but a publisher as well, and we are cooperating closely with our partner studios. We are publishers of the Crossout and Star Conflict action MMOs, both titles developed by Targem Games, and several mobile games. We are also helping the Darkflow Software studio. They are developing Enlisted – an MMO squad based shooter, which is built around some of the most important and famous episodes from World War II. The game uses the same engine as War Thunder – the Gaijin homegrown Dagor Engine. So we provide the team with technical support.

You recently added the French faction. How did this idea come about?

We have always envisioned France being added to War Thunder, given that it is home to one of the most important military forces and features many interesting vehicles. We started working on the implementation well over a year ago, and most of the time was spent searching for technical documents and references. Several French planes, which are now available in War Thunder, never entered mass production. That made the research process long and complicated, and was one of the reasons why Italian aviation became the first to enter War Thunder this year, but we worked on both game nations simultaneously.

Did the idea of adding a French faction give rise to any more ideas and design changes that you would like to bring to War Thunder in the future?

The addition of French aviation hasn’t changed our main concept – all the vehicles presented in the game existed and entered at least a series of test fights. So even there was a gap of 1940-1943 in the history of French aviation, we found enough models to fill the research tree and introduce various ideas of French aircraft constructors to our players. It includes fighter aircraft armed with motor cannons, multi-functional planes which can perform both like fighter aircraft, bombers and other interesting models. Though they do not change the core game mechanics, they do expand the number of tactics available in a battle.

"We have taken every measure possible to obtain to the data we need to recreate the machines we have in game as authentically as possible."

Do you have any plans to add more factions in the future?

Right now we are focusing on further developing the two recently added nations, which currently have only aircraft research trees. With the latest 1.73 Update, we have presented the first Italian tanks and ships. Now we want to focus on adding other types of vehicles for France and Italy, while additional nations are still in our long term plans.

Can you tell us about the kind of research you have done to bring new factions to the game?

We have taken every measure possible to obtain to the data we need to recreate the machines we have in game as authentically as possible. This includes the gathering of preferably contemporary documentation, e.g. design documents, blueprints and technical manuals, from a variety of sources, like archives, museums and private collectors. It also includes the study of any secondary literature available on the topic, e.g. the works of respectable and knowledgeable authors or memoirs of WWII veterans. Last but not least we take every opportunity to visit original machines that are e.g. conserved in museums or private collections, especially if that means we get the chance to record its original sound.

With the advent of World War games like Call of Duty: WW2 and Battlefield 1, where do you think War Thunder stands?

Despite the fact that all of the games mentioned share some superficial similarities, e.g. being “war games” to some degree, there are fundamental differences between War Thunder and the rest. Gameplay-wise, War Thunder is centered around vehicular combat with a high degree of realism and authenticity. Our vehicles are, as much as technically possible, accurate representations of their real world counterparts, giving players the unique opportunity to try hundreds of “real” vehicles on a challenging, virtual battlefield.

Various modes provide players with multiple scenarios and each regular content update, which happen every couple of months, expands gameplay diversity more and more. For these 5 years, the amount of content available in War Thunder has grown dozens of times bigger than we had in the beginning. We already have almost a hundred of maps, a thousand of vehicles – aircraft, ground forces and ships – all available in one game.

And we keep on developing War Thunder, improving the physics, graphics, adding new modes and more. So basically, War Thunder has magnitude bigger scale than those other games have – in terms of battlefield sizes, amount of content, level of detail and realism and improvements development.

"Microsoft advertises the Xbox One X as the “world’s most powerful console”, and it certainly is a huge improvement over the ‘current’ generation, the Xbox One, especially GPU raw power."

What can you tell us about the French aircraft tree?

The French aircraft tree currently available in War Thunder encompasses a variety of very interesting, ingenious designs, some of which saw extensive use in the Spanish Civil War and Germany’s western offensive in the 1940’s. Other machines available to our players were already in trials when France surrendered later that year, or were projects that were developed and tested during the years of German occupation.

After France’s liberation in 1944 and after World War II, the country continued to develop several remarkable jet aircraft, which share characteristics of both fighters and bombers and currently represent the top-rank aircraft available to players in the game. More aircraft for the French research tree are already in development and will be part of future updates.

When are French aircraft expected to release? Will they be released across all versions simultaneously?

We have begun closed beta-testing of the French Air Force on our public servers with Update 1.73. Regularly, we open new machines for all players to research and expect the CBT to be be finished in December. Update 1.73, which introduced France as a major nation to the game, was made available simultaneously to all platforms the game is currently present on – which includes PC, Mac, Linux and PlayStation 4.

You have confirmed War Thunder for Xbox One X. How much more powerful is it than the Xbox One?

Microsoft advertises the Xbox One X as the “world’s most powerful console”, and it certainly is a huge improvement over the ‘current’ generation, the Xbox One, especially GPU raw power. In regards to War Thunder, the Xbox One X is capable of running the game fluidly in 4K resolution, which allows Xbox players to enjoy the epic battles of War Thunder to the fullest extent.

How does it compare to the PS4 Pro?

As soon as War Thunder already supports PlayStation 4 Pro, of course we had a chance to compare the two devices. In regards to CPU power those consoles are roughly similar. The Xbox One X GPU is, currently, truly ‘the world’s most powerful console’. The exact side-by-side comparison will require a lot of technical details and is not permitted by platform holders, but the Internet is full of more or less close speculations.

"It is very easy for developers to fall in a “let’s make this amazing visual feature, and we still can get 1080p/30fps/60fps” way of thinking."

What resolution and frame rate does War Thunder run on Xbox One X and PS4 Pro? Will you have separate modes for 4K and 1080p TV owners?

Currently we run more than 30FPS in 4k on Xbox One X. As for now, there is no separate mode for 1080p TV, but Xbox One X runs with supersampling anti-aliasing on 1080p (providing similar to 4k resolution quality of picture).

Tell us one thing about the Xbox One X that was either shocking or surprising while you were working on it?

It is surprisingly quiet.

Do you think cross compatabilty between Xbox One and Xbox One X will hold back the latter?

I don’t think so, at least not in the moment. Actually it may be sometimes even good for players. It is very easy for developers to fall in a “let’s make this amazing visual feature, and we still can get 1080p/30fps/60fps” way of thinking. Having to support Xbox One as a platform with more or less same gameplay will help to avoid that, meaning that Xbox OneX users will be able to enjoy 4k with 60fps. May be later it could become an issue.

How has the x86 architecture helped consoles in relation to gaming PCs?

Using x86 architecture is very helpful to reduce the gap between platforms and so more developers can work more efficiently on both platforms. In terms of “raw” performance of any of platform it may be helped manufacturers, but I am not very familiar with that part of industry.

Do you want more people to play your game on the Xbox One X?

As a developer, I always hope people will move to better hardware. Unfortunately for developers, a lot of people feel good with what they have already for years. So I don’t expect any immediate changes here. (Although Xbox One X users will have better visuals and/or frame rates indeed).

"Using x86 architecture is very helpful to reduce the gap between platforms and so more developers can work more efficiently on both platforms."

Which PC GPU does the Xbox One X GPU comes close to?

First of all, console developers do have better access to HW, due to a very thin API layer, and can make better and faster code targeting exact hardware (particular console).

Obviously it more correct would be to compare it to one of AMD’s GPU’s (since Xbox One X is actually AMD GPU), but NVIDIA currently dominates the PC market. So, I would say GPU computing power is about GTX1080, however, the amount of video RAM and it’s bandwidth, which is very important for current games (as a lot of them are actually limited by memory ‘speed’) makes it somewhat close to Titan X series.

Is Xbox One X powerful enough to render demanding games in native 4K?

It is very broad question. Xbox One X definitely can render some games in native 4k resolution. However, it may be make sense to improve overall picture and use some shortcuts on rendering resolution. It als depends on tech that the game used. Most of the current games uses so-called deferred rendering, which performance scales linearly or even worth than with resolution area (i.e. as a square of resolution size, meaning 4k is 4+ times more demanding than 1080). Forward shading (or its modern variations) can behave better here.

It is also worth mentioning that actually 4k ‘native’ resolution isn’t really always required for better picture. Most of neighbor pixels would be almost the same anyway, what we (gamers) do need is small details (i.e. antialiasing) and good temporal stability of shading. Unless for benchmarks, “honest” native 4k isn’t actually better. I am sure we’ll see some interesting progress here in the nearest future.

How does the Xbox One X compare to a high end modern gaming PC?

It is definitely better than most of gaming PCs on a market in terms of raw GPU power and developers access to it. Of course, very powerful high-end PCs exist, however, there are pretty rare even for hardcore gamers (and very expensive).

When it comes to War Thunder, Gaijin Entertainment has worked on a number of platformers throughout the years. Its free to pay MMO, which combines aerial warfare with armoured battles and naval combat, is available on PS4, PC, Linux and Android. However, it will be making the leap to the Xbox One in the near future and that means support for the Xbox One X as well.

To understand how capable the console is when it comes to rendering graphically demanding titles at native 4K, that too without techniques like dynamic scaling and checkerboarding, GamingBolt spoke to Gaijin CEO Anton Yudintsev.

Yudintsev responded that, “It is very broad question. Xbox One X definitely can render some games in native 4k resolution. However, it may be make sense to improve overall picture and use some shortcuts on rendering resolution. It all depends on tech that the game used. Most of the current games uses so-called deferred rendering, which performance scales linearly or even worth than with resolution area (i.e. as a square of resolution size, meaning 4k is 4+ times more demanding than 1080). Forward shading (or its modern variations) can behave better here.

“It is also worth mentioning that actual 4k ‘native’ resolution isn’t really always required for better picture. Most of neighbor pixels would be almost the same anyway, what we (gamers) do need is small details (i.e. antialiasing) and good temporal stability of shading. Unless for benchmarks, ‘honest’ native 4k isn’t actually better. I am sure we’ll see some interesting progress here in the nearest future.”

As for whether the developer would prefer players enjoying the game on Xbox One X as opposed to the normal Xbox One due to higher frame rates and improved visual fidelity, Yudintsev noted that, “I always hope people will move to better hardware. Unfortunately for developers, a lot of people feel good with what they have already for years. So I don’t expect any immediate changes here. (Although Xbox One X users will have better visuals and/or framerates indeed).”

War Thunder currently doesn’t have a release date for Xbox One but you can check it out on Steam today. Let us know your thoughts on the Xbox One X’s power in the comments below.