Call of Duty: Warzone supports 120 frames per second on the Xbox Series X, but this capability has not been translated over to the PlayStation 5, and we're not sure why.
Last week, major internet providers in the UK saw use and demand reach stratospheric heights as the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S launched worldwide on November 12th. Combine launch updates and patches for the next generation consoles, with the pre-loads for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and a ginormous update to Destiny 2, and you're looking at a hefty volume of data streamed in a very small slice of time. BT even stated that its previous traffic peak record was left in the dust, owing to a sudden spike of 18 terabits per second. Crikey.
More specifically, the updates for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone worked out to be about 65GB, and the additions ranged from private Warzone matches, texture streaming for PC players, and a number of bug fixes, expectedly. Unexpectedly, the update now lets Call of Duty: Warzone run at 120 frames per second on the Xbox Series X, and this isn't mentioned in the patch notes. Strangely enough, the game doesn't support 120fps on the PlayStation 5, and perhaps anticipating antagonism, neither Activision nor Infinity Ward stated it plainly in the official information.
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Nothing flies under the radar of the eagle-eyed Warzone community, though. These are the people who worked out how to activate a giant Godzilla bear by shooting inconspicuous bits on a building somewhere in Verdansk. "I couldn't stop telling my friend how much different it felt. You know when you die and instantly say to yourself that guy's on pc...well that's how I felt," described one player on Reddit. "Everything was crazy smooth...the new texture pack makes it look even better and I have no clue what the fps was but it definitely was consistent."
Well, that is lovely. I'm glad everyone is enjoying themselves. But, why isn't this the case on the PlayStation 5, a console that is only a smidge less powerful than the Xbox Series X? Digital Foundry conducted its own tests on the two consoles, and concluded that Warzone is capped at 60fps even in the game's performance mode, which should prioritise frames per second over resolution. Furthermore, 120fps on one of the most successful battle royales ever should be shouted from the rooftops. And, it hasn't been.
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One theory is that the Xbox Series X has better backwards compatibility options than the PlayStation 5. This might seem to be an obvious statement, but bear with me. The Xbox One S and One X had a 120hz display refresh rate mode, whereas the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 4 Pro did not. Ergo, the Xbox Series X is able to support 120fps through the capabilities of its predecessors. If the PlayStation 5 is to achieve the feat for Warzone, it will require a purpose-built patch.
Featured Image Credit: Activision, Infinity WardTopics: News, Call of Duty