Ubisoft engineer says M$ & Sony pressuring them 30fps on PC

Ubisoft engineer says Microsoft & Sony pressuring them 30fps on PC on Guru3D

@TweakTown also

An intersting story was posted at Reddit, basically at a school presentation about game programming a Ubisoft engineer / Game architect slipped a few words he probably should not have told, he stated that they aim for 60 fps but due to "limitations", they have to settle for 30 fps in recent games.

He then implied that console makers are pressuring them into doing the same thing on PC. Here's a transcript of it all, thanks for harkinsteven for spotting this one:

Original post

Proof : http://i.imgur.com/hBdu5ot.jpg

A lot of things were said during the presentation, there was a Game Architect, an Online Programmer, and a person from HR.

"So what the hell happened with watch dogs?" u/Egg_Slicer

During the presentation, the Online Programmer said that just before they release a game, they have to send a copy to console manufacturers, which then tell them what to keep and what to throw away (sooo yeah Watch Dogs maybe ?).

"30fps vs 60fps" ? everyone

The Game Architect said that they aim for 60 fps but due to "limitations", they have to settle for 30 fps in recent games. He then implied that console makers are pressuring them into doing the same thing on PC.

"Ask how bad the upper/middle management is." u/Ed130_The_Vanguard

The HR rep said that managers are former programmers and can sometimes be interns. But people are always managed by someone who could do their job.

Not asked, but worth mentionning :

The Game Architect said that they try to re-use code as much as possible. So that's maybe what happened with the AI in Watch Dogs which was taken from AC.

"Are you aware of the negative response to the recent decision to lock your games (like AC:Unity) into 30 frames per second? If so, what do you think about that?" u/TwinDragonsOfChaos

I asked this question at the end of the presentation, everyone laughed. The Game Architect said that on consoles, and for this type of game, they have to chose between graphical fidelity and smoothness. He implied that MS is making them lock the framerate on PC too. Then, he smiled, said "But our eyes can't see past 24 fps anyway" and winked at me.

"Then maybe ask about the impact of AI on these APUs in the consoles."

They said they have to use Microsoft's cloud instead of the APU to do the AI in certain games due to hardware limitations.

"You can also ask what is the preferred platform to develop for."

PC, because they have to use specific languages and debuggers for each console and then validate the game with the constructor.

"You should ask them if they get any say in what the PR people are telling us."

They don't. Clearly the two engineers were no peasants, but they were asked questions they could not answer. He only implied that there were hardware limitations all over the place. And his wink when he told me that 24fps was all we needed confirmed that.

"Do people who work for Ubisoft have mobility ? Can they work abroad if they want or change their career path ?" (question from a classmate)

Yes, engineers can become managers and vice-versa, they can also fill openings in other studios, or change teams.

In order to sell their limited by crappy console hardware games, they force the devs not to make the same game superior for the PC...

edit: I guess this was the answer to what revealed 2 hours before this: Ubisoft Digs its Own Grave, Says 30FPS 'Looks Better' than 60FPS

Yeah. 30fps looks better.....

I think someone should tell dice we need BF5 at 30fps because it looks better. If only we'd found this out ages ago!

but how can microsoft and sony really enforce this rule? and this wouldn't go down well with nvidia and amd, both of which stand to benefit from fps wars, as it draws attention and sales to their pc hardware.

could microsoft or sony really pressure ubisoft into limiting the pc version's framerate? surely ubisoft has ways around it, legally or otherwise. on the other hand, they did nerf the pc version of watch dogs so who really knows about the extent of their lies and deception? i think it's ubisoft trying to cover their own hide.

I think Microsoft should apply a hidden windows patch limiting any activity to 30FPS (such DirectX and Mantle). So we can all enjoy this FPS sensation.

30FPS haters will say the opposite!

edit:

That's what I thought in the begining too. But this also answers The Evil Within 30FPS... So I wouldn't 100% say that the Ubisoft Engineer was lying.

ps: This also answers the huge change of watchdogs from 2012 E3 to what we have today...

I liked the competition back then when it was actually about being better than the others. Bring out the best games, try to get the best out of a system.

Now it is all about taking away from others. Timed exclusives, lowering res and/or fps on other systems, forcing to release on a specific platform day1 or do not release at all etc., they are mainly about hurting the others right now while the quality of exclusives sinks down more and more. I can easely count several exclusives I hated on my Ps4, but I have a hard time searching for the same amount I enjoyed.

Your spot on it seems to be the complete opposite today.

Right that does it. 30fps cap with afterburner going on!

I am sorry I don't really understand what you mean. Can you explain it please?

Time to return the 144hz monitor for a refund and tell them that I want a superior 30hz monitor.

He's saying that back in the day competition was more about making a better product but now it's just about hurting the other companies and their product...this results in nothing good for the consumer.

He's agreeing with you.

I will not buy any game with a 30fps cap.

M$ built the biggest piece of junk ever when the games can't even run in 1080p so I can totally see them pushing for this. I was considering buying one of the new turd consoles when the prices drop but I think I'll pass, I don't want to contribute to bottlenecking gaming.

but neither microsoft nor sony can force ubisoft (or the evil within developer) to do that.

it has to be some kind of mutually beneficial agreement like "developer gets larger profits from the console manufacturer if it nerfs the pc version", something that would never be openly said.

Just agreeing with what you said.

There was a time when competition was about trying to be better than others, however recently the opposite is happening. Less effort on being better than other an more efforts spent on trying to gimp the opposition, Timed Exclusives really annoy me. The money spent on Timed Exclusives could be spent on making games better.

I will disagree with the first part. Both M$ and Sony control like 90% of console market.

When a company relies most of its profits from consoles, they will listen to anything their supervisor (Sony and M$) will say.

Sure they could just turn completely and create only PC and Nintendo games but this wouldn't be the right thing to do as Ubisoft.

I completely agree with the second part. Ubisoft might earn more from a console copy than a PC copy....

I think the truth is between these two. We might see an announcement war from these companies blaming each other.

Maybe Sony and Microsoft force them to do it but Ubisoft might wanted this from the begining...

This needs to be posted in system wars ;) Consoles really are holding PCs back.

@MlauTheDaft: Yeah I agree. Put this in system wars. I'm on my phone right now or I would. Maybe just copy / paste and credit the TC.

Just tried BF4 with a 30fps cap.

Looks better and Cinematic.....not so much.

Oh I see, thanks for explaining it :)

I agree with you. Spending money to add ssomething is always better than spending money to take away from others

so they want pc games to run crap 30 fps so their consoles don't look so weak. fck sony and microsoft

This is partly why I no longer touch Ubisoft's games. Screw their attitude (also FU Sony & M$), I certainly don't need them, but they CERTAINLY need us.

Consoles holding PC's back? Alert the fucking press why don't you?...

This sounds like bullshit to me.

since i found out the cinematic feel of 30fps i now limit my fps to 30fps. Hell when i want that extra cinematic feel i even lock my frame rate at 24fps

@adamosmakiI tried the 30fps cap but I must of done something wrong because it looked bloody terrible.

I hope they finally realize we need 900p limitation for PC as well!

1080p is just too much you can't even see all the pixels!

@klunt_bumskrint: Back in 1997, the best graphics someone could find was in the battles of Final Fantasy 7. They had 15FPS cap :D.

Try 15FPS might be even better. xD

Hahaha, I imagine the scene going actually to the store and talking about 30hz superiority. xD

not only that we also need a lot of screen tearing and no anisotropic filtering destroying the intended look of textures

Get rid of Hardware T 'n' L and perspective corrective textures..

Haha, Transform and Lighting effects! I remember this was tech from the 1st Geforces. Games back then had minimum requirements of "Hardware TnL".

....

You are right, we must disable these too!

edit: Meanwhile PC market is dying: Intel Sold Over 100 Million CPUs In Q3 2014, Record Revenue

Console makers don't want their shitty hardware exposed? Say it ain't so!

@Coseniath: I remember when I got my first card with T & L I think must of been the Geforce 2 GTS, not sure my memory is old and rusty.

EDIT: Poor Intel :(

Aw yi

I'm all about simulating poor people on pc.

@MlauTheDaft, @GoldenElementXL: I just noticed it. Feel free to post it at SW forum if you like. I just posted it here cause these are news that PC users should know...

Someone post this in SW, it'll explode ;p

I don't venture into SW. It's a scary void with lots of monsters, trolls, and demons chanting words like 900p and 30fps. I don't understand these under worldly terms :O

All these horrible port jobs just amount up to one thing for me. Games not purchased. When they don't take the time to use the hardware at hand even slightly over the console versions I generally say screw it.

Those demons are actually Cyber-trolls that came from the future to provide us trully innovating 30FPS and 900p technology in order to stop the resistance from the future of 4K and 144hz.

This is the only weapon, consumer has. If the largest by far, market (PC gaming revenue is equal to all console gaming combined) starts to decline those ports, then they will understand that THIS shall not pass.

Its not like the ps4 is any better. It's still garbage compared to any modern gaming pc.

Stop necroing threads. It takes exactly .5 seconds to read the time-stamp on a post.

Damn I used to be edgy back in the day.

I have no idea what I just read. But whatever it was it's filled with guesswork and factual inaccuracies (Unity is not locked to 30 fps on PC). There's no actual quotes for all the bits that are supposed to be making the point this thread is about in the first place.

These are good examples of why I never buy ubishaft games. Keep on shooting for that least common denominator ubi...

you necro'd a year old thread for this? >_>

@SamiRDuran:

^Seriously dude! WTF.

Padlock....AND chain for this one!!