In gaming, resolution and framerate matter a lot. Gamers always strive for the best visual experience. In that context, Bethesda’s upcoming Starfield resolution and framerate targets on the Xbox Series X and S consoles have stirred up quite a debate.
Bethesda’s Todd Howard recently confirmed that the game would be locked at 30fps on the Xbox Series consoles. Moreover, Bethesda targets a reconstructed 4K resolution on Xbox Series X and a reconstructed 1440p resolution on Xbox Series S. This revelation does come with a bit of disappointment for gamers hoping to experience the game in native 4K on their consoles.
This announcement has received heightened attention because Starfield will be advertised as a 4K game for Xbox Series X. However, it’s important to clarify that it won’t be a native 4K game. This could be slightly misleading for console gamers expecting a native 4K experience.
A detailed analysis by DigitalFoundry revealed that the internal resolution of Starfield’s Xbox June 23 Direct Demo was 1296p, which falls significantly short of the 4K mark.
It’s essential to note that the Xbox Series X will not be running the game at native 4K. At this point, we don’t even know if the console version will use the Ultra settings of the PC version. So, any comparisons between console and PC performance should consider this.
The only platform supporting native 4K resolutions and 60fps will be the PC. However, it’s still hopeful that Starfield might support Ray Tracing on PC, or perhaps DLAA and DLSS 3 Frame Generation – these additions would be impressive.
Set to release in September, there’s not enough time for Bethesda to make radical changes to offer a native 4K resolution on Xbox Series X. As already stated, Bethesda has downgraded the game’s characters. However, the game’s environments remain visually impressive.