In a recent article on Edge , developers have spoken out about the differences between developing for the PS4 and Xbox One. The overwhelming majority of these comments are directed at Microsoft in a negative fashion. Anonymously, developers have said the PS4 performs 40-50 percent faster than its competitor in terms of raw hardware performance. Additionally, devs have stated the power difference between the systems as both “obvious” and “significant.”
Although Microsoft took the brunt of the punishment in this anonymous outpouring of complaints, Sony and its PS4 did not escape unscathed. Graphically speaking, it was said that “the poor drivers have made it difficult to push either of them, and the developers aren’t familiar with the hardware yet,” showing that both systems may have far to travel when it comes to developer relations.
Although the technical specifications have been announced for both consoles, it’s hard to believe that Microsoft would give up a computing advantage of up to 50 percent to its competition. Whether or not they plan to make up this difference through software architecture or cloud service compatibility remains to be seen, but Microsoft had this to say to Kotaku :
“Ten years ago, you could argue that a console’s power was summed up in terms of a few of its specs, but Xbox One is designed as a powerful machine to deliver the best blockbuster games today and for the next decade.
Xbox One architecture is much more complex than what any single figure can convey. It was designed with balanced performance in mind, and we think the games we continue to show running on near-final hardware demonstrate that performance. In the end, we’ll let the consoles and their games speak for themselves.”
In terms of raw power, there is no denying that Sony has a clear advantage, but it seems Microsoft has an ace up its sleeve that it isn’t willing to put on the table just yet.