Infinity Ward Explains Call of Duty Ghosts Resolution Differences

Starting tomorrow, gamers will get their first look at Call of Duty: Ghosts, the latest iteration in the long-running and extremely lucrative franchise. But many gamers will not be flocking to video game retailers on launch day, as there is an even bigger Call of Duty launch on the horizon.

We speak, of course, of the next-gen launches for Call of Duty: Ghosts, which will take place on November 15th for the PS4 version and November 22nd for the Xbox One version (technically the games will be available earlier, but the consoles will not). Both are purported to be the optimum console experience for Infinity Ward's latest, although there is a slight difference between the two versions.

As some may know, the PS4 version of COD: Ghosts runs at the expected 1080p resolution AND at 60 frames per second. The Xbox One version, on the other hand, hits the 60 frames per second mark, but runs at a lower 720p resolution.

For the past few weeks gamers and media outlets (and even a few developers) have chimed in with claims as to why there is a disparity between the two versions. But today we have it straight from the dragon's mouth, in the form of Infinity Ward's Mark Rubin, and what he has to say could be quite telling.

According to Rubin, the Xbox One version "could" run at the higher 1080p resolution, but in order to do so Infinity Ward would have had to make some concessions on the frame rate side, which they weren't willing to do. Call of Duty might not be a franchise that looks the prettiest, especially up against the likes of Battlefield, but what it lacks in visual fidelity it makes up for in a silky smooth frame rate.

"It's very possible we can get it to native 1080p [resolution]. I mean I've seen it working at 1080p native. It's just we couldn't get the frame rate in the neighborhood we wanted it to be. And it wasn't a lack of effort. It wasn't that it was like last minute. We had the theoretical hardware for a long time. That's the thing you get pretty quickly and that doesn't change dramatically."

However, the obvious question raised by this quote from Rubin, is whether the disparity came about because the hardware is relatively new or if it’s a serious problem with the Xbox One. As Rubin explains, the IW team had the Xbox One's theoretical hardware for quite some time, but was still not able to get COD: Ghosts to run at 1080p60.

While it's still too early to pass a verdict on the Xbox One's performance — the console isn't even out yet — certain reports like this one aren't helping the console's case. To say that one console isn't capable of a certain resolution at launch is one thing, but to potentially suggest it might not be capable while balancing a solid frame rate is another. Obviously, Call of Duty: Ghosts is just one game made by a specific team of developers, so there's no reason, at least at this point, to think that another developer might be capable of hitting 1080p60 with the Xbox One.

Do you consider the resolution difference between the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts important? Or do you prefer a solid frame rate?

Call of Duty: Ghosts releases November 5, 2013 for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360; November 15th for the PS4; and November 22nd for the Xbox One.

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Source: Eurogamer

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