Thief is 900p on Xbox One, but Eidos Montreal explains why that's OK

Uh oh. Thief will run at a native resolution of 900p on Xbox One, Square Enix has confirmed to GameSpot. The PlayStation 4 version will run at a native resolution of 1080p.

Thief is the latest in what is becoming an increasingly long line of third-party titles that feature a lower native resolution on Microsoft's platform. At 900p, Thief has the same resolution on Xbox One as Ryse: Son of Rome and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Other titles, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, run at a native resolution of 720p.

Both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Thief will run at 30fps.

"We can't really see the difference," says Thief game director Nicolas Cantin to GameSpot when talking about the two versions. Many of the developers at Eidos Montreal maintain that the two versions are almost identical when running side-by-side.

The developers also insist that a lower resolution has no detrimental effect on the gameplay of Garret's adventure. "For me, in my mind, the PS4 and the Xbox One experience: it is the same thing," says Cantin.

"I think it's becoming too big," said Cantin when asked if the ongoing argument over native resolution is becoming a bigger issue than it should be. "To see it as a big topic? I really wonder why at some point."

Cantin maintains that working hardware specifications is a "limit" but that it's more of an engineering problem--and that the creative team did not find developing for Xbox One or PlayStation 4 a constraint. "The Xbox [One] version is really good, it's really looking great, as is the PlayStation 4," he adds.

Ultimately, resolution will "never degrade the game experience," Cantin says. "I can assure you that."

Thief will be released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on February 25.