Uncharted 4: 60 FPS Controversy is Already Tiresome
The 60 FPS debate continues to rage on in the video game industry. This time, the issue has hit the upcoming, highly anticipated sequel, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Apparently, the developers at Naughty Dog are not positive the game will come in at 60 FPS. However, that no longer seems to be the case. A statement from the game’s director, Bruce Straley, suggested the game will not be locked in at 60 FPS. The debate over games requiring a 60 FPS experience is becoming tiresome, and gamers need to let go of it.
Around July 2014, Naughty Dog Community Manager Art Arne Meyer told Eurogamer that Naughty Dog would try and push for a 1080p 60 FPS experience for Uncharted 4. He stated, “I think that’s what we want to push for with anything we’re doing on this generation. That’s sort of the mandate from when we were building the PS4 engine. Let’s see if we can do this and hit it. We hit it with The Last of Us Remastered, so why not stick with this?” Naughty Dog had recently had success developing a 1080p 60 FPS experience for The Last of Us: Remastered on the PlayStation 4. The PlayStation 4 console has the capacity to do this, so why not? However, the issue is becoming a heated debate where some players become offended if a game is not locked in at 1080p 60 FPS. It appears that it is more difficult than it seems to lock in a game at 60 FPS for the next-gen consoles. While the Playstation 4 might have the capacity for a 60 FPS experience, it seems that developers are struggling with accomplishing the experience for the new next-gen games.
The Last of Us: Remastered actually had an optional 30 FPS experience. Players could lock in the game’s framerate at 30 FPS if they so desired. Apparently, the experience of 60 FPS can be a bit jarring to the eye. Uncharted 4 game director Bruce Straley told IGN: “We’re actually above 30, but we locked it [for the demo]. We’re going to do whatever it takes to make the game we want to make. If it means we could go for 60 but lose something that would really impact the player’s experience, then it’s our choice as developers to say, ‘Well, we’re going to go for the experience over the 60 frames.’” So basically, the recent PlayStation Experience demo for Uncharted 4 was locked in at 30 FPS. From Straley’s statement, I get the sense that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will not be released at 60 FPS. Maybe some of that has to do with a probabe 2015 game release.
The release of Uncharted 4 at 60 FPS is hardly a deal breaker for me. At 30 FPS, the demo looked pretty fantastic. If the developers are not comfortable with putting together the 60 FPS, they should not be forced to use it.
Uncharted 4 is due out later this year. The game will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 4.