Witcher 3 Release Date: Developer Says DX 12 May Not Improve Graphics on Xbox One Games

By Aaron Smith
Witcher 3

A senior Witcher 3 developer recently said that the Xbox One will not get the desirable 1080p resolution with the upcoming DirectX 12 (DX12) release.

"I think there is a lot of confusion around what and why DX12 will improve," Witcher 3's lead programmer Balazs Torok said to Gaming Bolt on Sunday, Aug. 3.

When it unveiled DX12 at GDC 2014 in March, Microsoft promised their software will deliver better graphics that fully utilizes the GPU hardware on next-gen Xbox consoles. As such, gamers are hoping that Xbox One titles will either start having 1080p resolution speeds or posses a speed of 60 fps.  

Torok pointed out that the Xbox One console does not have the number of shader units to deliver on such expectations.

"Most [Xbox One] games out there can't go 1080p because the additional load on the shading units would be too much," Torok explained. "They might be able to push more triangles to the GPU but they are not going to be able to shade them, which defeats the purpose."

Since its release in November last year, a great number of game developers have failed to release Xbox One games that run on 1080p resolution, which is considered the new standard.

In contrast, Sony's Playstation 4 has more 1080p-capable titles than what is being offered on the Xbox One. This is due to the PS4 having more shading units on it GPU, which allows the console to render more visuals per frame.

Witcher 3: The Hunt is coming to the PC, Xbox One, and PS4 sometime in February next year.

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