Is PlayerUnknown’s Battleground in Game Preview an own goal for Microsoft?

After a certain wait, fueled mainly by the incredible results achieved on PC, PlayerUnknown’s Battleground has finally arrived on Xbox One but, apparently, with some problems too.

 

The analysis of Digital Foundry is merciless and the web obviously did not miss the opportunity to do a little ‘irony (to say the least) on the situation, especially by comparing the grame performance of the game with the media campaign based on power of Xbox One X.

 

Beyond the console war petty, the question raises some interesting considerations, between the state of work on the game Bluehole and the implications of early access to the console.

We must always remember that this is a game in Game Preview, that is in early access, which has gone through a long process of development and presents various technical problems on PC and that is proposed in an absolutely temporary version on Xbox One. In light of this, a technical examination like the one proposed by Digital Foundry leaves the time it finds, because we are not analyzing a finished product, but to this modus operandi of the British column we are now accustomed.

 

Rather, it should be thought that the public console is perhaps not yet ready to offer games in this way, at least for titles in sight like this, because it is less inclined to accept the compromises required by a game that has yet to be fully concluded, regardless of the discounted price offered.

Is PlayerUnknown's Battleground in Game Preview an own goal for Microsoft?

On the other hand, even the fact of betting strong on a game in Game Preview as “Christmas title” was a rather risky move by Microsoft, who could have waited a little longer and propose it in a more optimized version ( even remaining in Game Preview) a few months later. Mind you, it remains to be seen the impact of the controversy on the actual sales, which are then what really matters when you make these choices and are difficult to be influenced too much by technical analysis, but from the point of view of the public enthusiasts the damage is done.

Indeed, seeing a game that does not represent the very tip of current technology trudging under 30 frames per second in some junctures even on Xbox One X makes a certain impression, making reflect on the status of the console version, apparently still rather backward being indeed, it was announced not long ago. Then the technical theories depart, on the fact that it may be the “old” CPU of Xbox One X – modified version of the Jaguar already present on the various Xbox

 

One and PlayStation 4 – to make a bottleneck on a game so heavy on the processor, having to manage a hundred players on a single huge map and all parameters related to objects and loot.

 

It is still very early to draw conclusions of this type but the fact is this: It is still early to draw conclusions in general, since it is a game in Game Preview, but the negative impact, in “circles of fans”, has now been there. Does the Christmas effect still cover technical flaws and image damage?