New Challenges Ahead: CD Projekt Red Aims for 60 FPS in The Witcher 4, but Xbox Series S Optimization Remains a Hurdle

CD Projekt Red aims to have The Witcher 4 operating at 60fps on next-gen consoles but cautions that reaching this target on the Xbox Series S presents significant difficulties. This announcement followed their demonstration of an Unreal Engine 5 tech demo for the title during the recent State of Unreal presentation. The visually striking demo was said to be running at 60fps with ray tracing enabled on a standard PS5 and focused on the technological aspects of the upcoming Witcher saga rather than actual gameplay footage from The Witcher 4.

Console Performance Goals for The Witcher 4

During a conversation with Digital Foundry about The Witcher 4 tech demo, CDPR clarified that their goal was 60fps for consoles from the beginning of the demo’s development. The team intends to maintain this standard for the RPG upon its release on current-generation consoles.

“At this moment, we fully recognize that much work lies ahead. This is merely a tech demonstration. The full gameplay mechanics aren’t in place yet, there’s no combat implemented, and numerous elements remain non-functional,” remarked Charles Tremblay, vice president of technology at CD Projekt Red.

“However, our ambitions are clear. This is our objective, and we are determined to achieve a 60fps performance for the game. It’s too soon to determine whether we will succeed, but we will exert every effort to make it happen.”

Achieving 60 FPS on Series S

While the goal of hitting 60fps holds for PS5 and Xbox Series X, CDPR acknowledged that achieving this on the less powerful Xbox Series S will be particularly ambitious.

“This is absolutely on our radar,” Tremblay stated when asked about the potential need to scale down The Witcher 4’s visuals for Series S. “That said, achieving 60fps on the Series S will certainly be a massive challenge. Let’s just say we still have some solutions to work out.”

The Xbox Series S has presented hurdles for various developers trying to port games for both the Xbox Series S and X, mainly due to its reduced memory and GPU capabilities compared to its more powerful counterpart. Microsoft enforces gameplay parity between its current-gen consoles, requiring developers to simultaneously launch games for both versions.

The release of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox was postponed due to technical restrictions of the Series S hindering developer Larian Studios from implementing the split-screen co-op feature on the less capable console. Ultimately, the RPG launched on current-gen Xbox systems without the split-screen feature for Series S, four months after its PC release and three months following its PS5 debut.

Similarly, the developers of Black Myth Wukong, Game Science, indicated earlier this year that the action-RPG was delayed on current-gen Xbox consoles due to optimization challenges on the Xbox Series S.

Although the tech demo of The Witcher 4 was demonstrated at 60fps on a standard PS5, it’s important to remember that this footage does not reflect the final product. The RPG might struggle to reach this performance benchmark upon release. Currently, there is no confirmed launch date for The Witcher 4, but CDPR has stated it will not arrive before 2027.