The new generation of consoles promises mountains and wonders for players, but is it well received by the developers? We are looking here at the case of the Xbox Series X, through the testimonies of several players in the industry, who are working to release their next titles on the Microsoft machine.
The arrival of a new generation of home consoles is always a very exciting moment, for the players, but also for the developers. If the manufacturer does its job well, it provides creators of video games with all the tools necessary to take advantage of its new platform. Many studios have been working on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X titles for several months. We will mainly talk about the latter here, having had the opportunity to talk to us, upstream of the Inside Xbox, with Jason Ronald, “Program Manager” at Microsoft, Wojciech Piejko of the Bloober Team (Blair Witch, Observer, Layers of Fear) and Johannes Kuhlmann, technical director at Deep Silver. They tell us about Microsoft’s technical approach to the Series X as well as the value of the SSD or the ease of programming the console. We also take this opportunity to make a broader point on the statements of other developers, in particular through an article published at Windows Central a few weeks ago.
Praise be the arrival of the SSD
The technical capabilities of the Xbox Series X are now widely known and we will not go into detail again. Remember that we are dealing with a processor and a “custom” graphics card, based on the new generation of AMD chips. Add to that 16 GB of RAM in GDDR6 and a 1 TB NVMe SSD. But if only two essential aspects of this new architecture have to be retained, it is the contribution of the SSD and the arrival of the ray hardware tracing, a first on home console. And it changes everything, or almost, for developers. Johannes Kuhlmann is therefore delighted with the presence of an ultra-fast storage system for the next game from Deep Silver, Chorus:
"Our next Chorus game is a fast-paced space shooter, but there are also elements of exploration. You can roam freely in the galaxy and we have a lot of open-world elements. This is where we got the benefits of the SSD and its reliability. This is very convenient, because we can stream elements in the background more efficiently, preventing them from suddenly appearing on the screen. And on the other hand, I was afraid that the loading times would slow down the experience of the player and there we can completely get rid of it and explore the galaxy without waiting. ”
Chorus, space shooter optimized for the Xbox Series X
Same story with Bloober Team. this horror game studio is currently working on The Medium, one of the few Xbox Series X exclusives:
“We always aim for a very cinematic experience for our games. For a horror game, immersion is very important ”, says Wojciech Piejko. “Having an SSD as storage allows us to make a game without interruption, and without loading time. For immersion, it's something perfect. If you want, you can do The Medium from start to finish without seeing a single loading screen. For us, this is a big change. ”
On the Microsoft side, Jason Ronald brings us some technical details on the famous “Xbox Velocity Architecture” which defines how the SSD will allow developers to maximize the performance of the console, while recognizing the essential contribution of these:
“The architecture is defined by 4 main pillars: first an NVMe SSD which has been customized for the game. Second, a hardware decompression module, so that we can stream content from this SSD as quickly as possible. We also have an API called Direct Storage, which provides low-level access to the SSD controller, so that developers have very precise control over the level of performance. Above all that, we have several innovations, such as the Sampler Feedback Streaming, which optimizes the way the physical memory of the console is used. It was designed to rethink the way streaming elements in a game work. Developer feedback was essential in the design of this architecture and we continue to listen to it "
"Like at home"
“Listen to the developers”: Jason Ronald repeated it to us many times during our interview. A credo that the Xbox team seems to have followed from the start of the "Series X" project and does not intend to give up. “I think we really tried to learn and listen, both the players and the developers. Player feedback influences us a lot in what we do and it's exactly the same on the developer side. We are still at the beginning of this journey and we continue to take feedback and try to push the hardware even beyond what we originally designed. You have to know how to listen and stay humble. ”
The Medium will only be released on Series X and PC
Microsoft has indeed wanted to offer the most welcoming development platform possible for studios, so that the generation change takes place smoothly. In any case, this is the feeling of Johannes Kuhlmann, who appreciated the arrival of the Series X at Deep Silver : “What I was hoping for with this new generation was that we continue with the tools that we had put in place on the current generation and Microsoft did it right. So, we feel “at home” on the Series X and we were able to quickly run our new games on the machine. On the one hand they listened to our desire to have an “easy development” and on the other they accompanied us to present us the novelties. ”
He also tells us that development kits arrived in the studio in early 2020, which largely anticipates the release of the console commercially. When asked if work is so easy on PlayStation 5 (Chorus will also be available), he admits that his team does not yet have a lot of development experience on the Sony console, but beware of compare the two machines.
Ease of development: Xbox advantage?
It is very complicated, at the moment, to obtain clear answers as to the difference in power and philosophy between the two consoles. We remember from Chris Granell's tweet, former developer at Guerilla Games, who claims that the Series X is far more powerful than the PS5. A raw power which, on paper, seems indeed in favor of Microsoft. But is it not a mistake to base your communication solely on the number of teraflops? During the technical presentation of the PlayStation 5, Mark Cerny said that this value index was not everything. Asked about the subject, Jason Ronald procrastinates, while acknowledging that optimization is just as important:
“What matters is that we have performance and reliability like no other developer has had so far. We designed the system to be sure there is no bottleneck, from CPU to GPU, through memory or storage. A good example is the Variable Rate Shading, which we are implementing on our next generation platform. It’s not just about having raw power, but it’s also being precise in how you use it, to go even further than the raw power that the console benefits from. This is what is exciting as a system architect: the integration between hardware and software, which allows you to really take advantage of the power we offer. ”
READ: PS5 vs Xbox Series X: which is better? Our comparison
Is cross-platform development problematic?
There is, however, a legitimate fear on the part of players: the majority of Xbox Series X titles will be released on PC, but also on Xbox One. In this context, hard not to fear a race to the bottom in terms of achievement. Chorus, the next game from Deep Silver, will be available on PS4, Xbox One, Series X, PS5, PC and even Stadia. On this point, Johannes Khulmann delays and tries to reassure:
"I think this is something that we managed to avoid from the start, since if you are developing on PC, you already have the ability to adapt the project to different scales. And it's the same with consoles. Our goal is of course to offer the same experience and the same gameplay on all platforms. But on Series X, we can go further: we aim for example at 4K at 60 FPS, which is rather easy to achieve with the power of the console. On Series X, for example, we can have procedural destruction: if you shoot debris in space, they will destroy themselves differently each time. You have more impact on the universe and it seems more alive. The feeling and the visual will be better, but the experience will remain the same on all platforms ”
In this sense, Jason Ronald explains that the tools made available to developers allow efficient porting:
“So that they can easily develop on both Xbox One and PC, we have APIs that are common to multiple platforms and two generations. '' The vast majority of game code is common to PC, Xbox One and Series X'. But there are also the tools specific to the Series X, which the developers have had in their hands for a long time. We have taken care that all the services, all the online functionalities, all the tools that we already have, work in a simple way for the developers, so that they can focus on the tools that make the difference between next generation hardware and the current generation. ”
Halo Infinite to be released on Series X and Xbox One
That said, some developers, such as the Bloober Team, have chosen to focus on the Series X: “Technically speaking, the whole The Medium project was not possible on the current generation”, explains Wojciech Piejko. “The game will be exclusive next-gen (and PC, NDR). In terms of new technologies used, the game will run in 4K, it will support ray tracing, use SSD for a no-load experience ”
Whether on the Bloober Team or Deep Silver side, everyone agrees that the Series X is technically very impressive. Johannes Kuhlmann recognizes that “The performance gap with the previous generation is huge”. According to him, what will be noticed most immediately is the fact of playing in 4K at 60 FPS, but the essential contribution remains the SSD: “For my part, it’s the SSD that excites me the most, because I don’t have to worry about loading times anymore. It's going to make a huge difference for people who just want to sit on the couch and play. ”
Ray tracing, yes, but not only for the image
Questioned by Windows Central, Joel Baker from Hinterland (The Long Dark) studio is enthusiastic about ray tracing, and especially for its possibilities in terms of immersion :
"Adding hardware ray tracing is very exciting, but it's the way it can be used outside of graphics that will allow the biggest changes. I can already see potential uses in games like The Long Dark, where we would be able to simulate more realistic weather and wind by sending rays of light into the environment, then dynamically changing the audio and physics depending on where the snow collects or that’s going to allow for truly immersive experiences that weren't easily achievable before. ”
Remember that ray tracing can potentially also be used for sound, and provide much more than you can imagine. A technological advance that also appeals to Kevin Floyer-Lea, CTO at Rebellion (Zombie Army, Sniper Elite):
“Hardware ray tracing can do more than just render.'For example, we can do incredible things with acoustics to improve realism. Modeling a realistic, real-time sound occlusion, dedicated to AI, for example, is an incredibly useful feature in undercover games. '' ”
With its new console, Microsoft seems to have understood the importance of providing a "dream" playground for developers, by offering both the power and all the tools necessary to make the most of it. In addition to a welcoming development environment, the possibilities offered by the CPU / GPU couple and, above all, the intelligent way in which the SSD is implemented should allow the studios to free themselves as much as possible from the technical constraints. Very close in terms of technical specifications, will the PlayStation 5 be as simple to program? According to Mark Cerny, the level of optimization allowed by the Sony console console is beyond measure. But Microsoft has the advantage of a unified ecosystem with the PC and the Xbox One. A standardization that can however potentially encourage a race to the bottom on the first wave of games to be released on Series X. It will therefore be very interesting to compare the Xbox One and Series X versions of AAA productions like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Halo Infinite. One certainty seems however acquired: this new generation of consoles seems to mark a real technological breakthrough, most certainly more important than what one could initially think. And it is the developers who benefit first.
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