Crytek boss discusses Xbox One exclusive Ryse's 900p resolution

Crytek boss Cevat Yerli has addressed concern from some quarters about Xbox One exclusive Ryse's native resolution, saying the game will use the console's upscaler to achieve a "full HD experience".

As confirmed by Microsoft earlier this month, Ryse: Son of Rome outputs at 900p - not, as many had hoped, 1080p.

And since the game's unveiling at E3 in June, some have suggested a downgrade in visual quality following showings at Gamescom and elsewhere, pointing to the number of polygons that go into making up protagonist Marius Titus.

"Hero Marius 85k polys? It was choice," Yerli said on Twitter. "150k polys w LODs vs 85K + better shading + no LODs (stable). The latter wo at better quality!"

"Looks better than at E3! Shader deeper, more real. Marius features additionally also realtime physical dangling pieces. Plus much more!"

"There is not one single downgrade compared to E3, promised!" he said. "Only UPGRADES in the final push towards finalling phase! Its FULL HD XP!"

Then, alongside the image above: "Tons of Diff. Zero downscale. Vast improves and optimizations. Poly optimizations are in invisible parts. All good!"

"Ryse runs at 1600x900 for best perf & res, we apply our upscaler for AA, framebuffer native 1080p. SAME as E3 Xbox One! No change, No compromise!"

Now, the interesting bit. Ali Moin, from GearNuke.com, asked Yerli whether things might have been different had Ryse been created for the PlayStation 4.

"Native res > upscaled," Moin said. "Hypothetically, if the title was to be developed for PS4, would hit the same hurdle?"

Yerli's answer: "Yes as choice wasn't based on a hurdle. It's for efficiency as no perceived visual difference, as final output is 1080p."

In reporting the news that Ryse runs at 900p, Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter acknowledged that some might have been disappointed that such a key first-party Xbox One title wouldn't run at full 1080p natively, but likened the situation to the launch of the Xbox 360 back in 2005.

"Key titles like Project Gotham Racing 3 and Perfect Dark Zero failed to hit the native 720p target that Microsoft mandated in its own technical requirements," Leadbetter said.

"Upscaling has come a long way since the current-gen consoles launched in 2005/2006, and we can imagine that developers of both Xbox One and to a lesser extent PS4 titles will employ sub-native framebuffers to hit their performance targets, especially in first-gen games," Leadbetter continued.

"Given the choice between a consistent gameplay experience at 900p or 1080p with a frame-rate hit, we'd take the smoother performance every time."