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It is widely accepted that Microsoft’s Xbox Series X console is the most powerful ever made, so why do some games run better on Sony’s PlayStation 5? That’s a question finally answered by the tech experts at Digital Foundry.
Both Microsoft and Sony launched the next-generation of consoles at the same time, November 2020, and while the less powerful Xbox Series S obviously struggles on the performance front, the Xbox Series X is a tech monster; it’s capable of 12 teraflops of GPU performance, whereas the PS5 is capable of 10.28 teraflops.
Xbox executives have said they wanted to avoid repeating the narrative established in the last generation, where the Xbox One was significantly underpowered compared to the PlayStation 4 resulting in a mismatch when it came to multiplatform game performance. And so, Microsoft went hard with the Xbox Series X, ensuring it could safely call it he “world’s most powerful console” in marketing.
But now, as we approach each console’s fourth birthday, has that power difference born fruit in the video games we play? It turns out that some games run better on PS5 than Xbox Series X. But how can that be?
According to Digital Foundry’s conversations with developers, “the combination of a more efficient GPU compiler, lower-level APIs, and higher clock speeds allows PS5 to match or even exceed the outputs of Xbox Series X in some scenarios.”
One example of this at play is FromSoftware’s Elden Ring, which runs faster on PS5 than on Xbox Series X. Digital Foundry’s analysis of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC shows a surprising frame-rate difference in favor of PS5, which is apparently the less capable machine.
But, as Digital Foundry notes, there remains value in the approach Microsoft took for Xbox Series X, which has a commonality with PC development that helps game makers. “Additionally, there are situations where the Xbox ecosystem and feature set yields dividends,” Digital Foundry explains. “For example, while Elden Ring may run faster on PS5, Sony’s limited implementation of variable refresh rate support means that we’d much rather play the game on Xbox Series X — it’s just a smoother and more consistent experience.”
So, what happens next? Sony is heavily rumored to be ready to release a PS5 Pro later this year, with Microsoft heavily rumored to be ready to release an Xbox handheld. Digital Foundry expects the PS5 Pro to “lean into the same strengths that made PS5 competitive and go beyond — PSSR machine learning-based upscaling should act as an effective ‘multiplier’ of sorts on its increased GPU performance.”
And then? No doubt we’ll have to do this all over again when Microsoft releases its next-gen Xbox and Sony releases the inevitable PS6.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.