Summary
- Avowed will run at 30fps on Xbox Series X/S for visually impressive design.
- Obsidian chose a lower frame rate to enhance VFX and lighting in the game.
- Despite community concerns, Obsidian reassures consumers that Avowed runs smoothly at 30fps.
Despite the excitement that's steadily building around Avowed, Xbox Series X players won't be pleased to hear about how the game plays on the console. Despite the sheer power inside Microsoft's box, developers creating for the Xbox Series X often struggle to reach a stable 60fps, an issue that's caused some frustration in the community. Many had hoped that the first few games to miss the 60fps window were largely impacted by studios still warming up to the new hardware but four years in, that seems more and more unlikely.
Per IGN, Obsidian Entertainment confirmed that Avowed will run at a baseline of 30 frames-a-second on both the Xbox Series X and Series S. The studio explained that it elected to aim for a lower frame rate to enable the creative team to build a more visually impressive game, further noting that since it's a single-player RPG, players "don’t necessarily need that 60 frames." Running at 30fps on Series X|S allows Avowed to sport "juicer" VFX and lighting, with art director Matt Hansen reassuring consumers that it runs "pretty smooth for how visually dense it is."
"We Want Players To Experiment": Avowed Developers Explain How Combat Is All Up To You
Avowed's game director Carrie Patel and art director Matthew Hansen explain how the combat and skill system was built for every type of playstyle.
Is The Xbox Series S To Blame?
It's Difficult To Know For Sure...
Obsidian does clarify that it opted to work with a lower baseline FPS to better facilitate the creation of a massive, detailed world, but that hasn't stopped fans from raising a few eyebrows. Given how common it is for first-party Xbox exclusives to ship with a standard 30fps target, many have begun to suspect whether catering for both the Series X and the weaker Series S is to blame. The smaller console is great for running less demanding games, but it's not capable of hitting the benchmarks set by its bigger sibling.
While it may be the case that the Series S can't handle a visually dense game like Avowed running at 60fps, it's still frustrating that developers aren't including an option to allow s to select how they want to run their games. Having the ability to choose between Visuals and Performance isn't a new idea, so launching without the functionality is odd, especially when many of PlayStation's first-party titles include the setting. Fortunately, it's usually added with a post-launch update; Starfield recently included Visual and Performance mode settings for the Series S.
Despite not hitting a baseline 60fps, Avowed is still Pillars of Eternity and Fallout: New Vegas.
Source: IGN
- Developer(s)
- Obsidian Entertainment
- Franchise
- Pillars of Eternity
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
