This issue has been a massive point of contention between gamers since the reveal of the Project Scorpio update to the Xbox One line of consoles. Since Bungie revealed that all consoles–sans Project Scorpio–will run at a fixed 30fps as the PlayStation 4 Pro remained incapable–at least in its current state–to run the games in 60fps reliably.
But gamers have been in an uproar over the possibility of the much more powerful Project Scorpio being hamstrung by these limitations, since Microsoft executives noted that they would prefer that framerates remained the same across the Xbox One and Project Scorpio consoles, giving developers the freedom to tweak the graphical fidelity and resolution as much as they wanted. This made fans angry that Microsoft would force the older console to hold the new one back.
But let’s back up a second.
When Microsoft announced Project Scorpio, everyone and their second cousin raised concerns over multiplayer across platforms. Regardless of the fact that even if one were to play on a 4K capable display and the other on a full HD panel, the 4K gamer would have a clear advantage regardless of framerate. Gamers demanded that if they were to compete online against each other, that they should be segregated based on performance. This placed Microsoft in a difficult spot since gamers on the newer hardware would have a limited player base if this were to be enacted. So Microsoft stated that for them it would be preferable, even forcing the framerate on multiplayer experiences to be the same, so that everyone would have a fair shot and enough gamers to play with.
But apparently, this was wrong as well according to gamers. With Destiny, the entire game is based on multiplayer co-op gameplay and if two gamers played together with wildly different framerates, the one with better performance and resolution would have the edge.
So Microsoft rolled back on this policy concept–it was just a concept since the console haven’t been released yet–and let developers decide how they would enact multiplayer advantages for certain players. We all know that Forza allows you to play with both a controller and steering wheel and those with a steering wheel have a clear advantage. But what Forza does is give those with a higher difficulty the advantage. For instance, if I played with TPS and no-clutch gear changes to off, even if I beat the top time against someone with those settings on, they would win since they have the higher difficulty setting, therefore they worked harder to get to that time, and so I would be penalized for making it easier for myself.
With the advent of better hardware, gamers on older hardware might be given the advantage of larger hit boxes in first person shooters, since it takes them 30ms or longer to respond than for someone running at 60fps locked. These are just based on what Forza does for those who might play on a higher difficulty than those who do not, and it makes the game fair in just the right way.
With Destiny 2, Microsoft and Bungie shouldn’t worry too much about allowing a different framerate on both consoles since it isn’t a highly competitive game in story mode. However, I would suggest capping the framerate at 30 or 60 in multiplayer unless they have a different idea to make it fair to those on older hardware. One thing we do not want as gamers are segregation based on ability. I for one already have a difficult time to get into a match since Destiny doesn’t use dedicated servers and my ping time is insanely high thanks to me living in South Africa, so I will always be at a disadvantage even if I were to play at 60fps.
Microsoft has made it their goal to make sure that games in the future–since Halo 5–had 60fps multiplayer with a scalable resolution to keep the game fluid for all gamers. This will extend into the future, and graphical fidelity will obviously be reduced on older hardware to keep this policy intact. However, this has spurred a different kind of animal altogether.
When Microsoft revealed Project Scorpio they noted that all games launched on Xbox One will be supported on both the older hardware and the upcoming refreshed versions. Some have noted that this will clearly not be the case because at some point developers will have built a game that cannot run on the original Xbox One, making it obsolete. But this is where you pull your face and make a ‘duh’ sound.
Microsoft never stated that the hardware will never become obsolete, they never stated that the Xbox One original will be supported forever. At some point, the original Xbox One–be it in 3 years or 10 years–will not be able to play the new games and it will lose support. Those games will fail to install or be purchased on the older hardware with clear warnings, therefore, moving gamers forward. Project Scorpio will at some point become obsolete too, and we will move on to the Xbox One family of consoles. This is clearly a new tactic to scare gamers away from Xbox One. My PC that I purchased 4 years ago is becoming slow enough not to be able to perform well enough to play games like Forza Horizon 3, however, I will not demand that developers and the hardware manufacturer support my hardware indefinitely. At some point, you have to upgrade.
If you expect the original Xbox One to be supported forever, you need a reality check. Just because the Xbox One range of consoles will extend for the next 10 years, does not mean the original one will support all the games launched in 2027.
Microsoft is in the right by leaving it up to developers the decision how to handle the performance differential on different hardware revisions. If Microsoft were to enact a draconian policy forcing the hand of developers, this would be worse for Xbox One gamers than having a slight advantage on newer hardware. The gaming media and the gaming public, in general, seem perplexed and have been riled up by the hysterical rhetoric that they do not seem to see the wood for the trees.
At this point, Microsoft seems to be on the right, and the blame will be shifted to developers, as it should be.
Dreyer was a regular ICXM contributor between 2016–2017, publishing 139 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @dreyer_smit.