Crytek: PS4 Pro and Xbox Scorpio remove some limitations

Crytek seems to be happy about the new PlayStation 4 Pro (check out my rant on that here) and Xbox Scorpio consoles from Sony and Microsoft, respectively, with some new comments on the refreshed consoles where the studio says the additional horsepower helps remove some of the limitations of current-gen consoles.

In a post on Crytek's official blog, Crytek Game Designer Niklas Walenski said that developers are limited to some extent. This limitation is normally due to various hardware limitations in consoles, but the additional horsepower inside of the new PS4 Pro and upcoming Xbox Scorpio will remove some of these limitations.

Walenski said: "We are always limited to some extent in videogame development, and we have to work within certain constraints that are usually related to the power of a system versus what we would like to do. But new hardware inevitably removes some of the limitations. We can create bigger worlds, render much more, and have more complex systems running our ideas".

He continued: "Each console has its own twist to it, but there are standards between them. If a console has a unique peripheral you have to think a little differently about it, but in general they tend to share key similarities. So new hardware doesn't usually tend to present the same issues as a new medium like VR, where we're having to throw away a lot of the things we did before, or iterate on them, because they just don't work anymore. Instead, you're essentially gaining varying degrees of additional power to play with".

One of the other interesting things that Walenski said was that console cycles have been quite long, and that's not a good thing for developers to have their hands tied behind their backs wanting more horsepower from the consoles. He continued: "We had a very long console cycle with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which is good for developers from one standpoint, because you know exactly what you're working with and can refine things more and more over the years. But, on the other hand, there were certain limitations you were always operating within, and you were bound to those while technology raced ahead. A lot can change in seven or eight years. Ultimately, though, we will have to wait and see what everyone has planned".