Reaction: Is 30FPS Good Enough For An Xbox Series X|S Game?

60 frames per second minimum. 120 preferred.

30FPS should have been left behind with the original Xbox and PS2. It not is the whole reason I built a PC to begin with.

If you release your game on consoles at 30fps, there is a 100% chance I will be skipping it. And if there was a PC release, I'll be waiting on a Steam sale. I don't reward lazy developers.

I'm a Nintendo fan. I play 30fps games all the time. They're fine.

It's more that the current-gen home consoles are clearly capable of running these games at higher framerates. Going by the Steam requirements page, you can play this at 60fps on PC with fairly old hardware. If you can play this at 1080p/60 with a 1660 Ti, you're not going to convince me the PS5 and XSX aren't up to the task. Even if the Series S is the weak link here, just target a lower resolution for that particular platform.

@Notoriousmakavel Me too, actually. 40fps is catching on with gamers on Steam Deck. Why only there? The only console game I recall seeing that as an option for was the recent Ratchet and Clank game.

It would always be good to have a performance mode of some kind. But as to the question of whether it is still an entertaining game at 30FPS: I am going to wait until I actually play it (or at least see reviews) before I answer that question.

This seems like one of those games where everyone is making up their minds before they even get their hands on it. Which is totally fine-I am not going to tell people how to spend their money. But I plan to wait until it is out before deciding anything.

60fps/Raytracing is sadly an either/or for 95% of games this generation (So, basically no Raytracing this generation cuz once you go 60fps you can't go back to 30fps for most games). The graphical leap we were promised was a false one...

Lots of talk about 120 FPS when these babies were launching so 30 FPS should be a thing of the past. Now I'll admit i know nothing about technology but that should be more of an argument against the 30FPS as I was clearly lead to believe that 60+120 fps was going to be the norm. They talked a lot about you not seeing the major differences in the looks of games, instead in the way it feels, was all about FPS. Now make it happen.

For Gotham Knights it will be 6-12 months and a patch will be out raising the framerate....so not impossible....you just didn't get around to it.

A game isn't ready to play as intended for a year after launch it seems, so don't pre-order and rush to play it if you want that best experience unfortunately.

Personally, I tend to be more annoyed at an unlocked 60fps than a solid 30fps.

@Dr_Luigi even with my limited knowledge i was expecting a ray tracing 30 option abd a 60-120 non ray tracing mode. Just give folks the option to play how they want. The ability to select your options was also a big promise at the beginning, for Xbox at least no?

For me, I guess price would be the main determining factor. If I’m shelling out $70, then hell yeah, the game better run at something more than 30 fps. If it’s something more akin to a budget title, then I wouldn’t expect as much. I’m not too picky on this stuff to begin with as long as it looks and plays halfway decent, so I may not be the best person to ask.

For me, running at a smooth 60fps IS the next gen experience I’m looking for. It’s so much more noticeable and jarring to go back to a 30fps game now. I know this is an Xbox page, but Bloodborne on the PlayStation Is an example of one of my favourite games I simply can’t face at 30fps now, I’ve tried 😅 this whole debacle with Arkham Knights makes them look a bit silly, when clearly games on seemingly much larger scale have managed to give that option to prioritise framerate. The comments that were made about the series S holding it all back just made them open to ridicule

Games that look great at 60fps…Horizon forbidden West, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s creed Valhalla…all big open world games. There’s no excuse for the devs to not include a “performance” mode option.

With ray tracing but otherwise no.

30 fps is fine as long as its a stable 30

With this much action in a game, it should be 60fps. They lost a sale from me because of the 30fps lock. I’m also holding out on Plague Tale as well.

Feels like we are taking a step backward recently.

The are other co-op games running at 60 or 120fps with more then two people so I just don’t buy their statement.

The best solution is to keep doing the "Performance or Quality" method and just keep it a choice for people. I generally prefer 60 of course but I've gone the other way before. I just did so with Soul Hackers 2 since 60 fps didn't really make much difference anyway with a game like that.

@Dr_Luigi There was a lot of "new technology" touted that were unknowns with this, however. The SSDs were cutting edge at the time and the new "Xbox Velocity Architecture" they said wasn't even implemented at launch. And yet, we are not seeing it's fruit to this day. Yes, the graphics card itself left questions. But they definitely alluded to the possibility of it through the use of these other means and it appears to have been a lie for the most part. Sony played much of the same game with their own gimmicks. This was marketed as the 4k60 with RT generation. And it obviously, isn't the case. I think the hardware leap this generation is more of a half generation leap.

Yep, I don't mind at all.

I understand their logic why the game won't have a 60fps "option" - but I also think that if you can't have the option of 60fps, then it should be the target out of the gate.

I mean their logic is basically "well we don't want an uneven experience for people who want to choose, since it's co-op".

Okay, then shoot for 60fps even if the game has to run at 1440p.

Like serious...stop this "needs to have a 4K option on next-gen" mentality.

That being said, I don't necessarily have a problem with 30fps games as long as it's a locked 30fps with even frame pacing. But I would reserve that kind of game for something that is truly pushing the visual envelope and for slower-paced games.

I don't know the first thing about the technicalities of it to be fair, but from what we've seen so far it seems to me like the option of a performance mode should be there as a standard. I was on the fence about this one as I'm a bit wary of how the combat looks, but at 30 FPS I can happily pass on it.

I don't think they helped themselves by saying they were canceling the last gen versions to get the most out of the new systems. That sets expectations that they clearly haven't met, and they seem to have fallen short of what everyone else seems to find achievable.

@Notoriousmakavel 40FPS tend to only be better if you have a 120hz display. 40FPS on 60hz display creates inconsistent frame times that create judder. So until 120hz display become commonplace. 40FPS as base framerate won't be a commonplace thing.

If your game can't run at 60fps on current gen (yes, even series S) it's an unoptimized pile of crap

@Ralizah 40FPS is catching on with the Steam Deck cause Valve allows you to limit the screen refresh to 40hz... Most tv manufacturers don't allow you to do that. It either 60hz or 120hz if your tv supports that. Having a game run at 40FPS on a 60hz display creates inconsistent frame times that create judder. 40FPS on 120hz displays work cause 40 divides perfectly into 120hz, so you aren't creating inconsistent frame times.

To me, 60 fps should be the target, but many games play well at 30 fps if it's stable. I guess I'm just more tolerant as I grew up playing games at 15 fps sometimes on a crappy PC and still enjoyed just being able to play them 😅

Gotham Knights doesn’t really interest me so I’m not that bothered - but (and I might be wrong on this) I thought I read that Starfield is aiming for 30fps??….

My eyes are much happier with 60fps (or higher). One of the things I’m most impressed with about Series X is the consistent and smooth 60fps is almost all titles.

Normally I am okay with a solid, but lower, framerate. However, not in this case; not for systems that have barely even been on the market for even two years, haven't even got close to being maxed out, and whose "next-generation features" proudly include 4K@60FPS among their highly-coveted features that that they use to to try to persuade you to spend anywhere from $300-500 to upgrade from the previous generation. Some of which, to this day, are still hard to find in the wild (PS5, Series X in many cases...).

Give it maybe another 5-6 years, when the systems are on easily within the second half of their market life; when they have been pushed to their limits by several AAA games, and are really starting to reveal their limitations in the real world. Only then will a target of 30 FPS be even the slightest bit acceptable on a console whose marketing literally promises 4K/60FPS.

Think a transition period... the time period when the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 are approaching the end of their marketable life and the launch of their successors are imminent.

For a brand new AAA game from a huge studio that canceled the last gen version to enhance overall performance, absolutely. I'm not a graphics/frame rate snob in general but it's kind of unacceptable. With the amount of games that have been upgraded and optimized 2 years in this just comes across as "we don't know how to do it" imo.

I'm confident this will eventually be pacthed in and I'm more than happy to wait and scoop it up for $25ish when it does. To only have this news come out somewhat accidentally a week or so before launch is just a bad look all around.

@BBB absolutely, I'm sure the backlash is deafening at the moment. Was probably the first thing discussed during the Monday staff meeting lol.

I have it pre ordered on the Series S and I was expecting 30fps without RT so I can see why Series X owners would be a little frustrated. For myself I would rather have the RT over the 60fps but it is good to give people options as everyone's eyes handles frames diffrently.

I'm all right playing at 30 FPS, but I think there should be 60 fps options available always. Understand if to give those options they need to make compromises, they can give players the info and then we'll make our preferred choice. The options should be there by standard

Speaking for just myself, I only have a 1080p display at the moment. But even then I expect 60fps for the hardware I bought claiming it can push that framerate and potentially more. So if developers are trying to sell a game to me that runs below what I was told my console is capable of, why bother?

For me it depends on the game. If it is a turn based rpg or a top-down game? Sure I can live with 30 easily.

If it's a first person, or over the shoulder game, that turns the entire background into a slideshow when I turn the camera around, then no, 30fps is unacceptable anymore. I'll take 720p/60 before I take 4k/30 if given the option.

Is this game gonna be any good? That’s my main concern.

Stupid question as it depends on the game

All I know is I wasted quite a lot of money on my pc buying a 2060 super and 144hz monitor for me to not notice any difference between 60 fps and 120fps. We just need good games.

Just make good games. Don't care if they're 30 or 60 fps, 4k or 720p. I just want to have fun playing games.

60fps is the expected standard for these current gen consoles but 30fps is perfectly fine for certain genres, it just depends how well it’s optimised. I’ve played different games at 30fps and some are very choppy but others look like it’s running very smooth with no stutter.

@Kaloudz Cause those in between areas create screen judder, tearing... etc on displays that the don't support VRR, Free sync/G Sync, or when the FPS don't divide properly into the refresh rate.

I won't buy a game for either ps5 or xsx if it's not 60fps, they feel blurry, sluggish and last gen with 30..

I don't mind playing at 30 fps on my ps4 pro / Xbox one it's the compromise I make for not upgrading but for these 'next gen' consoles I'd expect the standard to be 60fps

30fps is fine for Series S, but I think a 60fps mode option should be standard for the Series X by now. Heck with many games hitting 120fps, having a Series X game run at 30fps just feels like poor optimization.

@Would_you_kindly Exactly. 30fps was the standard for most "One X Enhanced" games back when that was the high standard. Ever since I upgraded to Series X it feels like 60fps has been the standard.

If given the choice I would obviously take a higher frame rate but its not like 30 in unplayable. I could pop arkham asylum or city into my 360 and still have a blast. I was planning on grabbing this one when it hit $20 anyway and that is still the plan.

people are going to have to get used to 30 fps again judging by unreal engine 5 performance and alot of game using that engine.

I'm all about options. Proper frame pacing and no screen tearing are the most important to me.

I have personally foregone playing certain games because I was waiting to play their 60fps versions.

This was especially true when the Series X came out with all the 60fps boosts. I waited until I got the X before playing a number of games just because I wanted the increased frame rate.

I’m not going to be playing this game. I have a gaming PC but out of principle I’m skipping this because I wanted it physical on the Xbox but can’t stand 30 fps.

For many many games 30 FPS is perfectly enough. It also allows developers to target a higher level of graphics. But at this point it is a losing fight as the obsession with higher FPS, which has its roots in PC gaming community has leaked over to console gaming and fully taken over.
IMO since the graphics settings of a game can only go so high on PC, the frame rate was a way of bragging rights for those who paid the money for top of the line GPUs. I never see the practical gains of games pushing 100 FPS and above but looking largely the same as their Xbox One era counterparts. Dial up the graphics!!

30fps is fine for certain games, anything slower paced its fine for, the new golf game runs at 30 in graphic mode and 60 in performance and personally run it in graphic mode....their is no need in that game for 60 and the graphical increase is worth it.... but something like forza or a fighting game cod or anything like them needs 60fps min.....

There are some games that I don't mind being at 30fps. I play slow paced games like rpgs or puzzles on high fidelity, even if they end up at 30fps.

@BBB @redd214 That disappointment will be real. I watched the multiplatform trailer and it only shows 60fps gameplay, which is only available on PC (the trailer doesn't say anything). It's misleading. Most players don't read these sites and they will be disappointed with 30fps on their shiny new console.

If necessary I can compromise but I will allways prefer a 1080p 60fps over any extra resolution at lower frame rate. For instance I never even try Quality modes when given the choice.