Scorpio Games Won’t Force 4k
In a smart decision, Phil Spencer confirmed via Twitter today that developers creating titles for Scorpio won’t be required to push them to 4K resolution, although the system is certainly capable of it. 4K is something that is still very much in its infancy. Even the beastly Nvidia Titan X is known to slay most titles at most resolutions, but it too, has problems rendering certain titles at this 4k.
Considering that the TitanX is capable of 7 teraflops, the Scorpio’s six would likely have more problems handling 4k, although the native resolution has to be taken into consideration as well, considering consoles render titles at ones lower than on PC, for the most part. This is also a smart move from Microsoft’s end, as it still allows for the developerss to try and get more familiar with the system and eventually pusher higher levels of fidelity, without actually hampering the development process. There are plenty of other aspects to consider as well, such as the actual market penetration of 4K products.
4K is sleek, it’s sexy, it’s whatever you want it to be called, but it’s still a ways away from being a dominant force. BroadbandTV noted that “As 4K TVs become more economical for consumers, their market penetration is expected rise to about 23%, compared with this year’s projected rate of 13%~14%.”. The technology’s cost of entry is still rather high, and can be a detriment to users adopting it. That coupled with the announcement of the Scorpio alongside the Xbox One S admittedly also seems to have people gun-shy about taking the plunge on a console that was initially thought to be purely 4k. Hearing that this isn’t the case should definitely help sway peoples interests towards picking up the new console when it releases, and there is still plenty of time for developers to get well acquainted with this potent piece of hardware.