Xbox Chief States Frame Rate ‘Significantly More Important’ Than Resolution

In an interview with CVG, Head of Microsoft’s Xbox division Phil Spencer talked about the Xbox One’s performance, and stated that a smooth frame rate is more important to a game than resolution.

When asked about the performance gap between the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, Spencer responded, "We have done a lot of work with our partners and we constantly evolve our development tools.” He then mentioned that many games are pretty much identical on both systems, stating, "We announced that Destiny will have the same resolution and frame rate on Xbox One as PS4. There are (sic) a long list of games. Reaching parity with our partners has been important."

Spencer then spoke about his feelings on resolution and frame rates. "But in the end I don't want it to be about a number, because 1080p isn't some mythical, perfect resolution," Spencer said. "Frame rate to me is significantly more important to gameplay than resolution and the mix of those two which brings the right art style and freedom, whether it's on PlayStation or our platform." The Xbox chief even gave an example from the competition to drive home his point; "I look at games like The Order: 1886 on Sony's platform and they picked a different resolution - I like the resolution that they picked, I think it's interesting."

Spencer does recognize the importance of a game’s resolution, however, as he stated, "Clearly some genres like with racing sims like Forza, hitting 1080p/60fps is important. So there are certain genres where there's an expectation, but there are also other genres where I'd rather use the cycles to put more effects on screen or better lighting. I've got to put the tools in the hands of developers."