Mo' Hardware, Mo' Problems.

The plethora of devices, makes development and testing, harder

With all of my writing, I’m secretly trying to answer one specific question.

“Why, despite vastly more investment, and technological improvements, does making games remain so difficult?”

It’s a huge question, which is why I've written about different aspects like ports, competition, and game engines.

Today I want to dive into the problem caused by the ever splintering amount of hardware that runs the games.

It was prompted by a conversation I saw on social media, which proposed that the PS4 Pro / Xbox One X half-generation step was a bad move for the industry as it mainstreamed the expectation of 4k gaming, well before the industry was able to meet it.

There’s a lot of truth to this opinion. It’s been 8 years since these consoles came out and neither they, nor their successors can reliably or consistently run games at 4k 60fps with next generation graphics we were promised.

However, I think the real crime here is not the false marketing, but the increased burden these extra SKU’s have on the industry, and in the years since it has not gotten better.

My biggest ick with the new PS5 Pro is that it really isn’t needed. Sony needs it to make more profit this year. Certain consumers need it because they like having the latest thing.

But do developers need it? Do developers get extra money from consumers when they go update an already released game to have Pro features? Are developers promised additional sales for their soon to be released game to have those new pro features? It’s an added financial and time burden to the development of the game, and it may not pay off.

Casting the net wider as it’s not just Sony making this harder for everyone. If you were to release a multi platform AAA game next year, you need to make versions to work on the following different configurations:

• PS5

• PS5 Pro

• Xbox Series S

• Xbox Series X

• Xbox Xcloud (yes this is a different SDK)

• Normal PC’s

• Handheld PC’s.

I’m ignoring the Switch for now, because AAA and Nintendo go together like Sony and successful multiplayer games.

Can you see the 4D chess game that needs to be played here?

We already know that the Xbox Series S presents issues for games made last year, let alone next year.

XCloud requires you be able to support touch screen controls for your game.

The existence of a PS5 Pro means you need to lock some level of performance behind the Pro and give an inferior version to the normal 5. I know that sounds pessimistic, but can you imagine if GTA 6 comes out and it’s so well optimized the PS5 Pro only runs marginally better? It would make Pro owners upset.

And now we have SteamDecks and the like.

Don’t get me wrong, I would legally marry my SteamDeck if I was allowed to, and don’t think I haven’t tried. I got Gay Marriage into parliament in my country, I think I could get marriage between a computer and a person in if I really wanted to.

But SteamDecks and ROG Ally’s are so prominent games are actively catering their games to work on them. Even announcing that their games are fully working prior to launch.

I bet three years ago game developers were looking forward to the day that they could stop optimizing for 720p resolutions, and then BAM the Steamdeck came along and now studios are having to run build tests that cater towards these amazing machines.

All this extra configurations need more time and testing. Time and testing that prioritized over other things. Studios are, presumably, having to sacrifice things to get this done.

Whilst configuring a game to be optimized for the SteamDeck isn’t breaking the bank, 4k still is, and I agree with the original point that we did it too early.

It’s not just that 4k assets are four times the fidelity that HD assets were, it’s that it spreads the spectrum. Games are needing to make assets that span from as low as 480p to as high as 4k, while the industry screams literal murder at them if the game isn’t also running at at-least 60 frames per second.

We have jamming more and more work into the game development pipeline and things have to give. Games don’t have infinite budgets, and whilst the prices are creeping up (which we are all angry about), they aren’t covering enough, requiring the games to sell more and more, and in this economic climate, it’s no wonder that the market is so risk adverse.

This isn’t the thing that's specifically breaking the industry, over paid CEOs and greedy stakeholders are doing more damage than the Xbox Series S could ever do, but its all part of a very complicated equation.

In answer to the original question, it’s becoming death by a thousand cuts, and the more I think about it, the more I’m not surprised.

Now to go make-love play with my Steak Deck.