Home Gaming Assassin’s Creed Unity is 900p/30FPS on Xbox One…and PS4

Assassin’s Creed Unity is 900p/30FPS on Xbox One…and PS4

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Assassin s Creed Unity Screenshot 1

The resolution and frame rate at which we play games has become one of the most heavily debated topics ever since the dawn of current-gen consoles. It’s all about how much better the PS4 can handle games over the Xbox One, something which has really worked against Microsoft. Well Ubisoft want to avoid all of this fuss, so they’re making Unity run identically across the board.

Assassin’s Creed Unity will run at 900p and 30FPS on Xbox One…and PS4. Ubisoft revealed the information last night, after previously stating that they were targeting 1080p/60FPS for both current-gen consoles. In an attempt to avoid resolution gate debates, Ubisoft may have just opened an entirely new can of worms – will console parity hold the PS4 back?

According to Vincent Pontbriand, senior producer on Unity, it has nothing to do with parity. Unity apparently suffers from CPU limitations, with the GPU differences between the consoles not coming into play.

Technically we’re CPU-bound. The GPUs are really powerful, obviously the graphics look pretty good, but it’s the CPU [that] has to process the AI, the number of NPCs we have on screen, all these systems running in parallel.

We were quickly bottlenecked by that and it was a bit frustrating, because we thought that this was going to be a tenfold improvement over everything AI-wise, and we realised it was going to be pretty hard. It’s not the number of polygons that affect the framerate. We could be running at 100fps if it was just graphics, but because of AI, we’re still limited to 30 frames per second.

So while it seems like it’s purely a technical issue, Pontbriand did feel the need to mention that both versions would be identical in order to “avoid debate”. That certainly seems like one console is getting the short end of the stick, being held back by the weaker of the two.

Ubisoft has since said that they did not lower the PS4’s resolution to match the Xbox One’s.

“We understand how senior producer Vincent Pontbriand’s’s quotes have been misinterpreted,” Ubisoft told GameInformer in a statement. “To set the record straight, we did not lower the specs for Assassin’s Creed Unity to account for any one system over the other. Assassin’s Creed Unity has been engineered from the ground up for next-generation consoles. Over the past four years, we have created Assassin’s Creed Unity to attain the tremendous level of quality we have now achieved on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.”

It’s probably worth noting that Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was released running at 900p on the PS4, though a post-release patch bumped it up to 1080p after the fact.

It’s a tricky subject. When it comes to PC ports, parity with the console versions is frowned upon. Should it be the same for games that are intentionally downgraded for console equality?

 

Last Updated: October 7, 2014

98 Comments

  1. No surprise there.
    At least the boys and girls in a tiny dev house in Poland can get the Witcher up to 1080p.

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      October 7, 2014 at 09:47

      yeah, at least they pushed the deadline back so they could play it on the Bone when it comes out.. NOT 😛

      Reply

  2. 64bit

    October 7, 2014 at 09:15

    who still plays this rag physics demo anyway?

    Reply

    • oVg Definitive and Remastered

      October 7, 2014 at 09:16

      Shadow of Morder OWNS ASS CREED

      Reply

    • Travis

      October 7, 2014 at 09:26

      exactly I get dizzy just thinking about it 🙂

      Reply

  3. Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)

    October 7, 2014 at 09:15

    http://static1.gamespot.com/uploads/ignore_jpg_scale_super/363/3632305/2680414-6556907974-0337_.gif
    PR Bullshit damage control from Ubishit again.
    Holy shit, this is amazing as fuck. Ubisoft actually had the balls to come out and say ‘we don’t want to piss off Microsoft, so we held back the PS4 version to match the inferior Xbone.’ Ell oh fucking ell.

    Reply

    • oVg Definitive and Remastered

      October 7, 2014 at 09:18

      Bwahahahaha
      That goes for the NEW TOMB RAIDER game running at 20fps 720p.

      Reply

      • FoxOneZA

        October 7, 2014 at 09:23

        On PS4 it will run at 1080p 0fps.

        Reply

        • oVg Definitive and Remastered

          October 7, 2014 at 09:25

          Not if Microsoft are claiming that they are funding the game.

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            October 7, 2014 at 09:33

            If MS has their way it will run at 360p on the PS4

          • Skoobaz

            October 7, 2014 at 11:47

            MOAR Upvotes for you sir!!

    • Hammersteyn

      October 7, 2014 at 09:19

      LOL!

      Reply

    • FoxOneZA

      October 7, 2014 at 09:23

      Money can buy you lurv 😛

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 7, 2014 at 09:28

        The Beatles lied 🙁

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          October 7, 2014 at 09:30

          UBeatleSoft! I bet they don’t all live in a yellow submarine either :/

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            October 7, 2014 at 09:32

            hahaha

        • WolfyZA

          October 7, 2014 at 09:44

          The never said money cant buy you resolution 😉

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            October 7, 2014 at 09:53

            hahaha

    • Sageville

      October 7, 2014 at 09:31

      Love that gif!

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief 0

      October 7, 2014 at 09:36

      That is one amazing gif!

      HAI!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 7, 2014 at 09:38

        HAI!

        Reply

      • Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)

        October 7, 2014 at 09:43

        You can always rely on GAF to deliver. #thankyoubasedGAF

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief 0

          October 7, 2014 at 09:48

          Ubisoft, dropping P’s, now selling!

          Reply

    • RinceThis

      October 7, 2014 at 09:47

      WINNER!

      Reply

    • Nikola

      October 7, 2014 at 09:56

      hahahah nice one LOL!!

      Reply

  4. L337J1MB0B

    October 7, 2014 at 09:16

    PS4 version gimped to prevent butthurt.. shame.

    Reply

    • oVg Definitive and Remastered

      October 7, 2014 at 09:17

      Wait for another crap Far Cry frame rate.

      Reply

      • L337J1MB0B

        October 7, 2014 at 09:19

        That’s what I’m worried about.. not that fussed about AC:Unity but I will cry if Far Cry is gimped as well.

        Reply

        • oVg Definitive and Remastered

          October 7, 2014 at 09:20

          More monkeys less frame rate.

          Reply

        • Skoobaz

          October 7, 2014 at 11:48

          Cry Far & Wide. 16:9 Wide.. hehe

          Reply

    • LaLa

      October 8, 2014 at 01:58

      you do realize they said it was CPU bound and the X1 has stronger CPU than PS4 so if anything the PS4 held back the X1. PS4 has stronger GPU and they stated that is not the problem.

      Reply

      • GamerValley971

        November 7, 2014 at 18:53

        Proper programming would have easily allowed them to utilize some of the PS4’s graphic power to over compensate for the marginal cpu difference the xone has by offloading those extra calculations to the gpu. This is a clear case that the raw power of the xone is not capable of handling the game the developers were aiming for. The xone has no where left to turn to handle all the calculations and keep the graphics up to even 60fps on 900p. I’ll be playing this game on my pc which doesn’t have these limitations.

        Reply

  5. Hammersteyn

    October 7, 2014 at 09:18

    Off-line Diablo cant be done
    Simcity can’t be offline
    XBOX one doesn’t have a switch that can be flipped
    Watchdogs runs the same as console(until it’s modded)

    The industry lies to our faces, this is just one more.

    Reply

    • Xcalibersa

      October 7, 2014 at 09:20

      Got to love journalism. Its a slave to its advertisers.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 7, 2014 at 09:25

        Well Lagz isn’t biased IMO,nor have I seen any bias from them. Have you? The people in the comments are very biased though.

        Reply

        • Xcalibersa

          October 7, 2014 at 09:28

          They are not very critical.

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            October 7, 2014 at 09:29

            Meaning?

          • Xcalibersa

            October 7, 2014 at 09:32

            Above

          • HvR

            October 7, 2014 at 09:30

            It isn’t their place in a news article to be critical or give an opinion. Just inform.

          • Xcalibersa

            October 7, 2014 at 09:31

            So why not replace the site with n4g, all they do is inform.

            Giving an opinion matters. It shows journalism. If this is not required, they should replace all their writers with bots.

          • HvR

            October 7, 2014 at 09:36

            Opinions are reserved for reviews, opinion pieces or brought up in FFD.

            Sometimes writers/staff will state their own opinion in the comment section.

          • Xcalibersa

            October 7, 2014 at 09:41

            Still a soul less piece.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            October 7, 2014 at 09:46

            News pieces like this should mostly be about the facts, not about opinions of the facts – those can come later in the article. Otherwise you’re not getting news you’re getting someones interpretation of the news, which limits peoples’ ability to create an informed opinion for themselves.

          • Xcalibersa

            October 7, 2014 at 09:49

            Fact. MS pays Ubisoft for advertising Unity.
            Fact. They have gimp the PS4 version

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            October 7, 2014 at 09:50

            Oh, facts can only be presented in bullet point lists. I forgot.

          • Xcalibersa

            October 7, 2014 at 09:52

            Off course… its meant to show awesomenessseses

          • RinceThis

            October 7, 2014 at 09:48

            You called?

          • Sageville

            October 7, 2014 at 09:34

            They issue opinions in reviews and surely also as commentary for news articles.

    • FoxOneZA

      October 7, 2014 at 09:25

      The bottom line is that a 1.6/1.8ghz mobile x86 CPU doesn’t cut it for 1080p gaming.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 7, 2014 at 09:26

        There’s plenty of games running 1080p on the PS4.

        Reply

        • Treezle

          October 7, 2014 at 09:31

          PS3 even.

          Reply

      • Xcalibersa

        October 7, 2014 at 09:26

        Tell that to SoM, or wait….

        Reply

      • L337J1MB0B

        October 7, 2014 at 09:27

        True.. if own a Xbone.

        Reply

      • Cat

        October 7, 2014 at 09:55

        Remember that if you want true full 1080/4K quality at 60FPS you can always switch to a PC 😛

        Reply

      • GamerValley971

        November 7, 2014 at 18:59

        While the CPU is a factor, the biggest problem is gpu specs. Properly using the API allows calculations to be passed back and forth between the CPU and GPU for AI which is determined by the programmers as to which is best for the situation. The problem for the xone arises when the GPU is already maxed out trying to provide the graphics for the game and cannot take any more of the AI processing; this is what leads to games being released at 900p 30fps.

        Reply

  6. Alien Emperor Trevor

    October 7, 2014 at 09:22

    If they downgrade one console version to match another it’s all because of the console manufacturers & their delicate feelings. It’s of no benefit to customers. If you only have one of them you have to buy that version, tough shit if your preferred one (pun intended) doesn’t look as good. If you have both you get to choose, and you don’t necessarily have to chose the fancier graphics if you prefer playing it on the other option – because it doesn’t look bad ANYWAY.

    What is it with people thinking that if you don’t have the absolute best option, you’re automatically eating a shit sandwich?

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      October 7, 2014 at 09:27

      My issue is with the PR. They won’t admit that they are crippling the PS4 version for the sake of the XBOX One.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        October 7, 2014 at 09:34

        Well they can’t just come out & say that – so we get silly stuff like this. Sometimes I wish they’d all just shut up completely and not say anything about fps & resolutions.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          October 7, 2014 at 09:37

          Agreed

          Reply

  7. ReaperOfSquirrels

    October 7, 2014 at 09:22

    I really don’t care if it’s 1080p or 900p… sure you’ll see the difference if they’re side by side… but if you ONLY have it on the Xbone, you won’t KNOW the difference. #getoveryourselves

    Reply

    • L337J1MB0B

      October 7, 2014 at 09:24

      Yes if you have the Xbone version you won’t know difference, you’ll just know it’s there and it will cause massive butthurt.

      Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      October 7, 2014 at 09:25

      But you don’t understand Squirrel! The eagle-eyed, bat-eared gamers can’t handle anything less than absolute perfection. Doesn’t matter if they can’t see a difference, they heard there’s a difference & therefore it’s terrible.

      Reply

      • ReaperOfSquirrels

        October 7, 2014 at 09:38

        lol… so true. I played games on Xbox 360 on AV cable for ages and then went to HD composite cables, and the difference is amazing… but some games on the 360 run at 720p, others at 1080p, and my TV tells me so… I still don’t care, it’s better than normal AV cables XD

        Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      October 7, 2014 at 09:34

      I don’t care either, I care about them lying

      Reply

  8. Travis

    October 7, 2014 at 09:23

    Does anyone actually care about AC anyway, but those graphics are pathetic. Next gen NOT!

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      October 7, 2014 at 09:25

      SOM is my Ass creed fix for now.

      Reply

      • Travis

        October 7, 2014 at 09:34

        You can see I am biased about AC, but I started with AC3 (probably my 1st mistake). I literally had no clue what was going on, who I was where I was, when the characters were switching etc. And of course I hated the controls and game mechanics. I remember trying to chase a clue note or something running around jumping crashing falling off things and I couldnt even do it. It just rubs me the wrong way that game.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          October 7, 2014 at 09:35

          Exactly, SOM being set in the LOTR universe means you can relate much easier with the setting of the game.

          Reply

          • Travis

            October 7, 2014 at 09:37

            You are slowly bringing me back to the SoM fold, but not before I play Civilization BE and DA:I

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          October 7, 2014 at 09:37

          I finished AC3 a couple of weeks ago. Those clue notes were the worst.

          Reply

          • Travis

            October 7, 2014 at 09:38

            Oh good I thought I was retarded or something, glad other people have similar issue lol

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            October 7, 2014 at 10:17

            Most weren’t too bad, but there were a few you had to practice with Goat Sim for a few hours before attempting. That one on top of the ruined church in New York I remember very well.

        • oVg Definitive and Remastered

          October 7, 2014 at 09:41

          The only good thing about Ass Creed like all the other games out there was that the original was FRESH AND EXCITING.
          Also Jade Raymond is SMOCKING HOT.

          Reply

          • Brian Murphy

            October 8, 2014 at 00:43

            Smocking, I don’t think it means, what you think it means.

  9. Viking Of Divinity

    October 7, 2014 at 09:25

    Well, if this begins a trend, PS4 owners will know what it feels like to be a PC gamer during 7th Gen, PC multiplats were held back by console performance, but PC exclusives shined. Immediate example: Witcher 2.

    Parity on Multiplats on consoles isn’t a bad thing altogether though, The Exclusives will shine all the brighter, if the Multiplats are forced down for parity’s sake…

    Reply

  10. Treezle

    October 7, 2014 at 09:35

    Another assassins creed? Why?

    Reply

    • Travis

      October 7, 2014 at 09:35

      Comment of the Year 🙂

      Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      October 7, 2014 at 09:40

      Same procedure as last year Miss Sophie?
      Same procedure as every year James.

      Reply

      • CAE9872

        October 7, 2014 at 09:45

        What a great comedy skit that was…

        Reply

    • oVg Definitive and Remastered

      October 7, 2014 at 09:44

      because there is no ending. Very clever carrot on a stick work model.

      Reply

  11. Admiral Chief 0

    October 7, 2014 at 09:39

    Ahhhh, I love news like this, this means I DON’T have to bother about new games and can smack my backlog around

    Reply

    • Viking Of Divinity

      October 7, 2014 at 09:50

      smack my backlog up!

      Reply

  12. Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)

    October 7, 2014 at 09:41

    Ubisoft clearly threw long term personal dignity succumbing to the vulturous nature of greed. (MS moniez)

    SONY will never do this and would want the best for all. (Because of the ‘for gamers BY gamers mantra). The Japanese are a proud nation.
    In Japan, this would have ended in Seppuku. Such was the level of dishonor.

    Reply

  13. oVg Definitive and Remastered

    October 7, 2014 at 09:45

    Assassins creed fans still waiting for the narrative to get cleared up.

    Reply

  14. WolfyZA

    October 7, 2014 at 09:53

    For me AC ended when Ezio’s story was completed.

    Reply

  15. Viking Of Divinity

    October 7, 2014 at 10:42

    Just found an appropriate gif:

    http://animatedtabs.com/i/2iisv9

    Reply

  16. Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

    October 7, 2014 at 10:49

    Enough of this already. If you want to play games *and* compare dicks, get a PC.

    If you want to simply enjoy playing games get a console. When and WHY did this change this generation?

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      October 7, 2014 at 11:34

      When they started hyping new consoles as beasts that would crush modern PCs & deliver 1080p @ 60fps consistently, and then couldn’t deliver. It’s the hype… AGAIN.

      Reply

  17. L337J1MB0B

    October 7, 2014 at 10:58

    Micro$oft will continue to throw their money around to buy parity, but at least on PS4 we’ll have exclusives in 1080p.. here’s looking at you Sunset Overdrive 😉

    Reply

  18. FSR

    October 7, 2014 at 11:24

    “It’s not all about res and FPS” – All console gamers before “Next gen”.

    Reply

  19. Tom Krager

    October 7, 2014 at 11:56

    Unisoft are pieces of shit . . . they are throttling down games on ps4 on purpose because eof backroom deals with Microsoft.

    Reply

  20. SargonTheGreatPandaOfAkkad

    October 7, 2014 at 15:39

    Best. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Seen. About. Unity

    Reply

  21. Tyler Mahaffy

    October 7, 2014 at 15:53

    Technically if the game is being CPU bound and limited, the PS4 would be holding back the Xbox One version. You guys just need to get over this – parity is stupid and it goes both ways.

    Reply

    • ZCapone

      October 8, 2014 at 01:11

      Thanks, nice to see someone who knows what they are talking about. The Xbox One has faster CPU and approx. 30% more memory bandwidth to the CPU. It would have the advantage in this case.

      Reply

  22. Brian Murphy

    October 7, 2014 at 18:40

    Buying games that are intentionally gimped to the lowest common denominator sets a terrible precedent, PC Gamer’s said. It could eventually impact games on consoles, PC Gamer’s said. Hahaha shut up you fucking graphics whore, consoles gamer’s said.

    /drops mic

    Reply

  23. UrbanCr33per

    October 8, 2014 at 06:33

    I think you all might be missing the point. They have clearly stated that the GPU differences don’t come into play … that the issue is CPU limitations … that the bottleneck is the CPU. While Xbox One might have an inferior GPU, it’s got a better CPU than PS4 … which leads me to think “what if it’s actually the other way around?” … maybe it’s actually PS4 that is holding Xbox One back in the case. Or at least, that’s based on what the official word is saying.

    Reply

  24. SgtCat

    October 30, 2014 at 05:33

    Sonyponies getting mad because their console sucks but they think its amazing

    Reply

    • Billy bob

      November 2, 2014 at 20:16

      Dude I was an Xbox gamer for years all the way up until the 360, I loved that thing even with multiple RROD’S. I couldn’t stand the PS3 with the century long updates and so on. I did however switch to PS4 this Gen because of the initial plans of the Xbox one .(the no online, forced kinetic etc ,yes I know it’s not like that now everyone on the planet knows that) It was like they didn’t give a shit about anyone but themselves so yes that soured me to the Xbox brand after years of being a loyal customer. So on the topic of Assassin’s Creed, I stopped playing after Desmonds story finished the whole thing seemed to be ridiculously convoluted and was just an obvious cash grab after two brilliant games in my opinion.

      Reply

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