Developing games during the dawn of a new console generation can be difficult, but some next-generation consoles are easier to work with than others. According to a Control developer, it was apparently easier to develop the game for Sony's PlayStation 5 than Microsoft's Xbox Series X.
The transition to the next console era can be a challenge for developers. In addition to developing a last-gen version of the game, studios must also build the game on the next-gen consoles’ new hardware. This is especially true in the current transition, as the scarcity of PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles means many gamers will still be playing the year’s biggest titles on last-generation systems.
However, while programming games across multiple platforms and hardware specs is certainly a challenge, some consoles make the process a bit easier, according to Remedy Entertainment communication director Thomas Puha. In an interview with IGN, Puha said Sony’s PS5 early development tools were easier to use for adapting Control compared to Microsoft. While he did say that both consoles were great and still working out system issues, Remedy developers were apparently forced to rewrite aspects of Control to make it run on the Xbox Series S.
"Sony stuck what worked, their development software and tools were pretty stable and good pretty early on," Puha said. "Microsoft opted to change quite a lot of things, which in the long run are probably good, but of course it was just a bigger hurdle for us devs early on because we had to rewrite a bunch of different things to take advantage of specific features."
Puha went on to say that the Xbox Series S holds developers back from taking advantage of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. This is nothing new, as developers have always been limited by the system with the lowest specs. This is because developers must ensure that their games will run on the lower-end machines as well as powerful systems such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X, while offering a uniform experience. This is a common problem, but it usually improves as developers learn the capabilities of each console.
Despite Remedy Entertainment’s difficulties, Control: Ultimate Edition has released for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, though some players reported at launch that it sometimes crashed on the latter console. The issue has since been resolved by 505 games with a patch, and the game appears to run smoothly on the Series X and S.
While these versions of Control have been out for less than a year, fans are eagerly awaiting a sequel. Remedy left plenty of room for a potential follow-up, though it has not confirmed if a sequel is in the works.
Control is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN