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PUBG On Xbox One Doesn't Perform As Well As The PC Version

They call it "Early Access" for a reason.

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PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is one of the Xbox One's biggest launches of the holiday season. But now that the game is out on the console, it turns out that it's a bit rough right now. Recently, Digital Foundry did an in-depth breakdown of the Xbox One and Xbox One X versions of the game, and it showed that they've got a long way to go before they're in line with the PC version.

It's not exactly surprising that the game doesn't perform as well on the base Xbox One, since porting a PC-first game like PUBG to a relatively weak platform is a difficult task. In addition, it's currently in Early Access, so it's expected to be less polished. As Digital Foundry notes, when you join a game, "You're instantly besieged by low resolution textures that seem to be failing to stream in properly, combined with performance just above or below the 20fps threshold."

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Now Playing: PUBG On Xbox One: All The Launch Details! - GS News Roundup

But what's more surprising is that the much more powerful Xbox One X also struggles to run the game. In its testing, Digital Foundry found similar issues sustaining a decent frame rate and dealing with texture pop-in. Overall, across both consoles, the main takeaway is that the game is inconsistent: "An extended journey across the landscape in a jeep can play out smoothly enough, with a flawless 30fps line. Meanwhile, entering a house, opening a toilet door and exchanging fire with a lurking assailant can see frame-rate dip to 20fps for no reason we can readily come up with."

There are some improvements on the Xbox One X, including higher resolution textures, certain improvements in frame rate, and foliage draw distances. Visually, it's a huge improvement over the base console, but in terms of performance, it's just as inconsistent.

For all its issues, Digital Foundry does note that the game is nonetheless in a playable state--and if you're determined to get a PUBG experience on consoles, the Xbox One versions are not broken. But performance and visuals are inconsistent, and with Microsoft providing assistance for the port, it's surprising that the versions launched in their current state. Hopefully, as PUBG's Xbox One Early Access period progresses, developer PUBG Corp will continue making improvements and increasing consistency.

If you decide to jump into the game on Xbox One, be sure to check out our Beginner's Guide for getting started in PUBG. It's a complicated game, and it'll help you a lot to know some tips and tricks before you even start playing. In other news, if you're playing on PC, the game is expected to leave Steam Early Access later this month.

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