Home Gaming “Xbox One is without a doubt the worst performer”–Digital Foundry

“Xbox One is without a doubt the worst performer”–Digital Foundry

2 min read
132

Just cause 3 is the latest open world game to be released across all the platforms, and while Alessandro enjoyed his time with the game he did say there were many problems with it – but that was on the PC version.

However it seems the problems aren’t only on the PC platform with Digital Foundry taking both consoles head to head and coming out with the incredibly damning statement of:

Xbox One is without a doubt the worst performer of the two (PS4) in direct tests.

Geoff covered the many technical faults in a more in-depth article yesterday where he goes over the fact that the Xbox One has the worst frame rate inconsistencies, with the it dropping down to 20fps at certain times while the PS4’s lowest is 24fps, which also isn’t great.

The PS4 however outputs at 1080p while the Xbox One is down at 900p which makes the larger drop even more worrying. Here is the full technical breakdown from Digital Foundry for those who love the details:

However this is more than just a problem for Just Cause 3. The Xbox One has been consistently second best in these tests and now that both consoles have had enough time to patch any issues, the fact that the console from Microsoft is still so far behind the PlayStation 4 is a serious worry.

Personally I’ve never cared if the one console pushes out 900p while the other does 1080p. I don’t see the difference on my gaming setup. However it’s impossible to ignore the fact that not only does the Xbox One push out fewer pixels but that it can’t push out those pixels at the same frame rate as the PS4.

Align that with the PlayStation 4 outselling the Xbox One and it really does make it near impossible to recommend anyone getting Microsoft’s machine for anything beyond exclusives,  and that should be a massive worry for the team at Redmond.

Microsoft would have had a perfect plan for the life cycle of the Xbox One, but now that is has become obvious that it won’t ever be able to stand up to the power of the PlayStation 4, it may be time to alter that plan and start planning for the release of the Xbox Two, Nextbox, Xbox Nexus, or whatever idiotic name they decide to go with.

Last Updated: December 2, 2015

132 Comments

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    December 2, 2015 at 11:08

    Maybe some devs need to start scaling back their ambitions a tad, until they get to grips with how to develop open world games more efficiently. Not even PCs have infinite power.

    Reply

    • HairyEwok

      December 2, 2015 at 11:19

      We might not have infinate power, but at least we can run games at 1080p 60fps XD

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        December 2, 2015 at 11:35

        It made all the difference when I was playing Fine Sweeper last night.

        Reply

      • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

        December 2, 2015 at 11:42

        *infinite

        Reply

        • HairyEwok

          December 2, 2015 at 11:46

          My finger slipped from the I to the A, was trying to show microsoft how slippery they’ll need to be to get out of this one.

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 11:48

            Wow, quite slippy. Did you use loooob?

  2. Hammersteyn

    December 2, 2015 at 11:09

    • Gavin Mannion

      December 2, 2015 at 11:12

      Best

      Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      December 2, 2015 at 11:14

      Green text. huehuehue

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        December 2, 2015 at 11:14

        XD

        Reply

    • Bob of the Khundelar

      December 2, 2015 at 11:14

      Damn, you beat me to it. Was going for the scene shortly afterwards but it took me too long to get the wording right 😛

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        December 2, 2015 at 11:14

        It’s etched in my mind. Best comeback ever

        Reply

    • RinceThis

      December 2, 2015 at 11:33

      winna

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

      December 2, 2015 at 11:34

      CAPTAIN!

      Reply

      • VampyreSquirrel

        December 2, 2015 at 11:43

        Admiral?

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

          December 2, 2015 at 11:44

          Yes?

          Reply

          • VampyreSquirrel

            December 2, 2015 at 11:49

            No? O.o

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 12:02

            Maybe

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 12:03

            Hello?

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 12:03

            Howzit going?

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 12:04

            Uh… fine? Can I order a pizza please?

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            December 2, 2015 at 12:05

            With how much Debonair’s sauce? Drowning, excessive drowning or maximum drowning?

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 12:07

            Excessive drowning please… Who needs a pizza when you can get a glorified quiche.

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 12:44

            It is shameful what some of these so called “pizza” places dish up.

            A damn shame I say

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 12:09

            I’ll get a minion to ASSist you, bacon and BANANA right?

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 12:10

            Banana? Sir that would be obscene! CANNIBALISM!!! SAVAGERY!!

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 12:12

            So, how is that different from every other 3rd Wednesday on the NanaNoir menu?

          • Hammersteyn

            December 2, 2015 at 12:43

            LOL

  3. Original Heretic

    December 2, 2015 at 11:11

    From the start of the next gen console battle, I was backing PS4 all the way. My 360 was my console of choice for a good 7 seven years, but damn, did not like what they did with the X1.
    And now, after all the recent articles and game comparisons, I’m even more glad I made the swap.

    Reply

    • schitsophrenic-toothbrush

      December 2, 2015 at 11:29

      Same dude.

      Reply

    • HairyEwok

      December 2, 2015 at 11:32

      Xbox wen’t the all round home entertainment system because people mostly sit in front of their tellies and they thought oh hey they’ll buy it and use it as a total home entertainment system. PS4 sticked to what they know and kept it purely for gaming purposes.

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        December 2, 2015 at 11:34

        X1 now really seems more geared for the US market. PS4 kept their focus global.

        Reply

        • Knowles2

          December 2, 2015 at 21:35

          Playstation brand was always stronger on the world wide bases. MS seem to have thought they could win the console war by just focusing on the US market and ignore everywhere else a crazy strategy in this globialise world.

          Reply

          • Schroeder

            December 3, 2015 at 09:57

            Well the US accounts for the most console sales, so there’s that.

    • RinceThis

      December 2, 2015 at 11:34

      Me too man. Loved my 360, but MS screwed over many of their fans.

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        December 2, 2015 at 11:39

        It was the 360 controller I loved! After my PS2, I had to get used to the stick position, but as soon as I did (after about a whole hour of playing), I was wondering “why aren’t all the controllers like this?!”

        Reply

    • Schroeder

      December 3, 2015 at 09:56

      After all the games the PS4 doesn’t have, I’m not regretting picking my XB1 over the PS4. Not that you can’t play a good game or two on the PS4, but the games lineup is just meager in comparison. PS4 can sell all the consoles they want, but if they don’t get games they don’t get me.

      Reply

  4. Bob of the Khundelar

    December 2, 2015 at 11:13

    So if we ignore the article and just go on the header image, then the next thing we’ll be saying is that the Xbox One has got to be the best performer we’ve ever seen.

    Reply

    • HairyEwok

      December 2, 2015 at 11:23

      What’s making me think now is that xbox went and removed kinect functions so that there’s more vooma for games….. even after they give more power to gaming it’s still struggling. How would it have fared if that extra power weren’t there.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        December 2, 2015 at 11:26

        Power of the cloud? It’s pretty sunny outside atm.

        Reply

  5. HairyEwok

    December 2, 2015 at 11:17

    Next Xbox name…. X-givethatdogabone

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      December 2, 2015 at 11:18

      I actually like Xbox Two. Only because then I can call it an Xbotox.

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      December 2, 2015 at 11:19

      and a side of peas

      Reply

  6. Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

    December 2, 2015 at 11:19

    I’m loving everything about my Xbox One. It does well with what it’s meant to be: a gaming console.

    Reply

  7. oVg SOmaNY games

    December 2, 2015 at 11:29

    Never mind the XBOX ONE. Both console versions of Just Cause 3 SUCK !!!

    This is why Im placing MGSV even higher at the VGAs this year. It was not only a fun 200hour game (WitWolfy excluded) but it was a technical marvel. 60fps in an open world all rendered at 1080p.

    Its got nothing to do with the consoles. The devs need time and money.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      December 2, 2015 at 11:36

      GOTM!

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        December 2, 2015 at 11:36

        GOTD!

        Reply

        • oVg SOmaNY games

          December 2, 2015 at 11:51

          Game of the Decade

          Reply

      • RinceThis

        December 2, 2015 at 11:37

        GITS!

        Reply

        • oVg SOmaNY games

          December 2, 2015 at 11:52

          Game Is The Shit

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            December 2, 2015 at 11:52

            Bet you can’t wait for the chapter 3 DLC.

          • oVg SOmaNY games

            December 2, 2015 at 11:54

            Nope, the painting has already been framed. I dont need to see the chair that the Mona Lise is sitting in.

          • WitWolfy

            December 2, 2015 at 12:27

            LOL!!!!! Chapter 3 starts with me streaming it on Youtube.

          • oVg SOmaNY games

            December 2, 2015 at 12:28

            I think Hideo is at the VGAs to pick up GOTY award. I doubt he is there to tease further DLC as FUCKONAMI extracted him out of Konami HQ 🙂

          • WitWolfy

            December 2, 2015 at 12:33

            I concur. I wonder if SCEJ will snatch him up? They probably will. they’d be stupid not to.

      • oVg SOmaNY games

        December 2, 2015 at 11:39

        Hodio Kojima is attending. I bet he wins GITS

        Reply

      • oVg SOmaNY games

        December 2, 2015 at 11:51

        Game of the Millennium

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          December 2, 2015 at 11:51

          Too late 😛

          Reply

          • oVg SOmaNY games

            December 2, 2015 at 11:52

            🙁

    • WitWolfy

      December 2, 2015 at 12:21

      • oVg SOmaNY games

        December 2, 2015 at 12:22

        What will you do if Geoff Knightly votes it GOTY?

        Reply

        • WitWolfy

          December 2, 2015 at 12:23

          I will lick my Xbox One controller, make it go viral, and probably end up working for IGN.

          Reply

    • Gerard Matthews

      December 2, 2015 at 15:06

      Yup optimisation costs big bucks. Even monster gaming rigs perform terribly with badly optimised game engines.

      Reply

  8. Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

    December 2, 2015 at 11:30

    #SandyBlows?

    Reply

    • VampyreSquirrel

      December 2, 2015 at 11:46

      #JustCause?

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

        December 2, 2015 at 11:48

        Finally, someone remembers
        Have an upvote

        Reply

        • VampyreSquirrel

          December 2, 2015 at 11:50

          I was involved in it and have been trying to forget it since it happened.

          Reply

  9. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    December 2, 2015 at 11:34

    As I’ve said before, the boner’s true calling is as a doorstop, a book stopper, a counterweight for a massive trebuchet or as an industrial boat anchor.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

      December 2, 2015 at 11:34

      I thought the boner’s true calling is giving pleasure to the mrs?

      Reply

    • oVg SOmaNY games

      December 2, 2015 at 11:35

      But… Lara croft 🙁

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        December 2, 2015 at 11:42

        She will be coming home in 2016/2017. However, I’ll pick her up in a bargain bin somewhere.. because she’s been naughty!!

        Reply

    • RinceThis

      December 2, 2015 at 11:36

      Bwhahah!

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      December 2, 2015 at 12:42

      “industrial boat anchor” XD

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

        December 2, 2015 at 12:44

        Also known as my left nut

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          December 2, 2015 at 12:45

          Makes sense. You always weigh the comment section down with your perfect grammar addiction 😛

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 13:15

            So I have a PerfectGrammarBall?

            Flattery!

  10. RinceThis

    December 2, 2015 at 11:35

    Where is the powa of the cloud?!

    Reply

    • oVg SOmaNY games

      December 2, 2015 at 11:38

      At the Barbour.

      Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      December 2, 2015 at 11:39

      • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

        December 2, 2015 at 11:43

        Pity the gif is not in a 360………..

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          December 2, 2015 at 11:44

          BADISH!!!!

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

            December 2, 2015 at 11:44

            Seriously though, the gif is satisfying, I’d like to have had a 360 degrees view of it.

            Kinda helps with the way I’m feeling today

        • oVg SOmaNY games

          December 2, 2015 at 11:44

          They did two 180s tho

          Reply

      • HairyEwok

        December 2, 2015 at 11:43

        All I see is Boston being nuked…. Then again anything that’s cloudy seems like a nuke or post apocalyptic to me these days.

        Reply

        • oVg SOmaNY games

          December 2, 2015 at 11:44

          All I see is RADs

          Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      December 2, 2015 at 11:42

      SIGH

      Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      December 2, 2015 at 11:43

      The powa of the cloud is in Don Mattrick’s jacket!

      http://allthingsd.com/files/2013/07/don_mattrick_xbox_one.png

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief - CHAAARGE!

        December 2, 2015 at 11:44

        Silkysmoof

        Reply

      • RinceThis

        December 2, 2015 at 11:49

        the jacket is a lie!

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          December 2, 2015 at 11:52

          YOUR FACE IS A LIE!!!

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            December 2, 2015 at 11:55

            YOUR WHOLE BEING IS A LIE!

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            December 2, 2015 at 11:58

            Now I’ve seen everything. The real boy and the bot are arguing about who’s not a lie.

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 12:05

            Rince is an AI version of Pinocchio? 😮

          • RinceThis

            December 2, 2015 at 13:38

            I’m a real boy!

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 15:17

            LIES!!! I’m a real boy!!

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 11:58

            YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!

          • RinceThis

            December 2, 2015 at 11:59

            MAKE ME CTRL+ALT+DEL! GO ON!

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            December 2, 2015 at 12:02

            You would force your PC to shut-down,… just to spite me? WHY WOULD YOU GO THAT FAR? THAT’S MADNESS!!! Don’t do it! Don’t hurt your PC!

          • RinceThis

            December 2, 2015 at 13:33

            I will!

          • oVg SOmaNY games

            December 2, 2015 at 12:01

  11. K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)

    December 2, 2015 at 11:36

    This console generation is a mirror image of the last one. PS3 always had inferior ports and dodgy frame rates, and Sony learned from that and ensured it wouldn’t happen again with the PS4. On the flip side the 360 was smooth sailing on this front so MS adopted the same hardware strategies without looking to really stay ahead of the curve, and look where they are now. The fruits of complacency.

    Reply

    • WitWolfy

      December 2, 2015 at 12:25

      Glad I’m not the only one who noticed this.

      Reply

  12. Bradsyerbud

    December 2, 2015 at 11:43

    Having been a long term xbox supporter Im now starting to question my decision. The only real issue is I don’t think its worth investing in a PS4 as I think both companies will have to bring new hardware to the table a lot sooner than we all think. M$ need to hang their heads in shame for this mess.

    Reply

    • WitWolfy

      December 2, 2015 at 12:26

      I doubt it. Their dev tools just need to be improved.. A LOT!

      Reply

    • Marcus

      December 3, 2015 at 07:42

      I really don’t think it’s such a mess. The X1 is still a great console, it still has the right hardware to be as good as the PS4, it’s the OS that holds it back from being anything else other than the iceberg that sunk Titanic. (I’m on PS4)

      Also, it would really help if game developers stop trying to make a single copy for both consoles. It’s not a copy and paste world.

      Reply

  13. Kromas untamed

    December 2, 2015 at 11:47

    And here I am just trying to see if my games still work on my ZX Spectrum. (Damn magnetic tapes and their stupid lifespans.)

    Reply

  14. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    December 2, 2015 at 11:51

    In case, you’re saying, “Oh Jim, you dickweed. Why do you always mock the boner? Why are you so mean?”

    My reply: “I get where you’re coming from. It’s not fun to have your plastic electronic waifu mocked, but on the plus side…. at least the boner isn’t a wii u….”

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      December 2, 2015 at 12:45

      Not much of a consolation

      Reply

  15. D4RKL1NG

    December 2, 2015 at 11:54

  16. WitWolfy

    December 2, 2015 at 12:15

    My Xbox One just died a little inside…

    Reply

  17. Gavin Mannion

    December 2, 2015 at 12:15

    I use my Xbox One daily, but it’s been about a month since I played a game on it. I just use it for Netflix and Hulu now

    Reply

    • Aries

      December 2, 2015 at 13:29

      That is what it was made for in the first place

      Reply

  18. Rikarudo

    December 2, 2015 at 13:20

    Its just been so weird for the exclusives as well. I do pay attention to the gaming news but halo 5, tomb raider got overshadowed by the marketing for fallout, Battlefront etc. Thats a big mistake for Microsoft.

    Reply

  19. Gerard Matthews

    December 2, 2015 at 15:00

    Console has to upscale lower resolutions, PC downscales larger res for better image quality. * Drops mic.

    Reply

  20. Graeme Willy

    December 2, 2015 at 16:18

    Well the R7 260x in the Xbox One is only a 720P GPU, in the PC realm. The only reason it can hit 900P, on occasion, is because it sits on a 256 bit memory bus, whereas, the PC variant is 128 bit, which limits the GPU to primarily 720P gaming. Not to mention, the Xbox One locks out 2 of the 260x’s CU’s, so you don’t even get the full 896 stream processors. The PS4 does the same here. It should have about 1200 stream processors, but it’s locked out at 1024, or something thereabouts. Both consoles would run smoother if they’d stop playing these games with locking out memory, cores and cu’s. I never understood why console makers play these games with hardware. When you develop for a PC, you are developing for the Full hardware.

    Reply

  21. SilverSee

    December 2, 2015 at 18:04

    Most first party titles for Xbox One run at 1080p, some at 60fps, which shows that if the developers put in the necessary blood, sweat and tears, it’s possible to squeeze performance out of the console. However, it’s fair to say that PS4 has become the default console development platform this generation, and 3rd party developers are probably taking the paths of least resistance to get their games up and running on the Xbox, including cutting back on resolution or framerate.
    Short of new hardware, I’m not sure Microsoft can really do anything about this situation other than to continue to fine tune and improve its SDK and tools so that developers can get optimized code running more easily.

    (Meta: Click bait headline. I guess it worked…)

    Reply

  22. konfab

    December 2, 2015 at 19:04

    Screw 1080p, I want 720p at 60fps.

    Or at least the option.

    Reply

  23. Mario Zaccone

    December 2, 2015 at 21:34

    Lazy developer. There are plenty of smooth running 1080p 30-60fps games on Xbox One.

    Reply

    • iusedtobe(a)regular

      December 3, 2015 at 10:50

      Soooooo, the devs were just a little less lazy with the PS4 then?

      Reply

      • Mario Zaccone

        December 3, 2015 at 15:19

        There are lots of open world games on Xbox One that run at a smooth frame rate. What reason would you give?

        Reply

  24. Steven Jones

    December 3, 2015 at 05:41

    The guy playing the PS4 sucked, not enough movement. The Xbox guy was everywhere moving so fast and gameplay was awesome just like how i play. Not like the PS4 guy trying to keep it calm so the benchmarks doesnt move hahahaha see what i did there.

    Reply

  25. Schroeder

    December 3, 2015 at 10:27

    I’m torn. I don’t care about what the numbers or benchmarks say – a good looking game is a good looking game. But when I thought about Xbox One and Playstation 4, I thought about how awesome it was going to be to see lush, detail-rich environments in 1080p and 30-60FPS. Neither console is delivering, so Playstation 4 fanboys can go pound sand and Xbox one fanboys can keep their mouths shut. If these consoles were truly technical marvels capable of delivering strong, even if not bleeding-edge, entertainment then we’d be seeing both nail down 1080p/60FPS with well-detailed worlds to play in. That is not the case for either, so everyone should be disappointment in the under-achieving measures both companies took.

    The 360 was radically stronger than the Xbox was and was a piece of hardware capable of rivaling PC gaming at its time. The XB1 was said to be up to 8x stronger than the 360, but while that sounded good, the reality is that being 8x stronger than a console that was 8 years old was nothing to brag about. Both consoles need a sizable power boost in order to start delivering on a well-established spec in the PC world from a couple years ago. I have been able to run games @ 1080p with 60, or near-60, frame rates since 2012 with the GPU I picked up for $220 back then. You’re telling me that neither Sony or Microsoft could match this kind of power three years later? I think both companies were too worried about pocketbooks. You don’t make money on the hardware up-front, you make money on games and services. Eventually, the hardware reduces in price and you stop losing money and making money with each console, but you’ve put something out that will stand up better and keep everyone happy for years. The 360 did that, I’m not confident the XB1 can. That doesn’t mean I have any kind of magic 8-ball that tells me there isn’t some ace up Microsoft’s sleeve, or Sony’s for that matter, but if there’s a lot of stink around these consoles. Perhaps they arrived a year too early?

    Reply

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