'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' preview on Xbox 'enjoyable' despite major performance issues
Battle royale first-person shooter "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" ("PUBG") released a preview version of its Xbox One and Xbox One X port this week. While the game is still praised as one of the best shooters of this year, it still suffers from its less-than-optimal performance on the Microsoft consoles.
The performance demand of "PUBG" is intrinsic in its gameplay. As long-time players know, the game involves sending 100 players parachuting down an island map. The object is to take down as many enemies until only one player remains standing. The players are unarmed; to defend themselves they have to find weapons on the island itself.
Tracking 100 players, their actions, places on the map, inventory, and all their other properties can be demanding to a system's central processing unit (CPU). The CPU-intensive nature of the game is apparent in its PC requirements. "PUBG" requires a high-end gaming rig to play with acceptable frame rates.
However, on the Xbox One, it's a different story. The Xbox One has slightly weaker hardware specifications than most high-end gaming PCs. This leads to the "PUBG" preview version being a slightly toned-down version of the original, at least in terms of graphics.
"PUBG" textures on the Xbox One are said to be blurrier and takes a little bit of time to pop in. In addition, the game never really goes way above 20 frames per second (fps) on the Xbox One. For comparison, smooth gameplay rates typically occur at 30 fps, and 60 fps is considered a standard.
The Xbox One X gives some consolation to owners of this rig. According to The Verge, the game can take advantage the One X's extra power on dynamic techniques like asset streaming.
As a result, "PUBG" runs better on the Xbox One X overall, compared to the Xbox One.
Despite the performance issues, the game is still the enjoyable, free-for-all battle royale that it is known for. After all, the Xbox version is still a preview, and it is expected to only get better with more time in development.
The Xbox preview of "PUBG" costs $29.99. The PC version is expected to move out of Steam Early Access and into a proper 1.0 release later this month.
