eat survivorThe game director of Us explained precisely why the upcoming title will not be available on the latest generation consoles.
Star Wars Jedi Survivor is a Souls-like action game in the classic George Lucas setting that follows the trials and tribulations of exiled Jedi Cal Kestis. The sci-fi space magic simulator is due out on April 28, so it won’t be long before we get our hands on the title.
However, Respawn Entertainment won’t bless every console with more Star Wars goodness. Before eat survivorgame director Stig Asmussen explained why the title won’t come PS4 And Xbox One.
In an interview with PLAY magazine, Asmussen made his point: “At the end of the day, we learned quickly that we could take advantage of faster processors, bigger/faster memory, better loading, etc., to create much larger maps, with more detail, greater density, greater variety of enemies/NPCs, and overall fidelity” (via MP1ST (opens in a new tab)).
He continued, “We didn’t want to break what we did in the first game because it was well received, but we wanted to evolve/improve the experience.”
Although he doesn’t say it outright, there’s an implication here that previous-gen consoles wouldn’t have facilitated the evolution and improvement that Asmussen and his team sought with eat survivor. Indeed, the developer assured us that “[we’ll] experience the benefits of more powerful hardware throughout [the game].”
A more civilized time
eat survivorThe move away from last-gen consoles is indicative of a trend we’ve seen in more than a few high-profile 2023 releases. THE dead space redo, the prophesied, And bizarre monster slaying adventure game wild hearts have all avoided the latest generation consoles.
This move has certainly been a long time coming. The Xbox One is celebrating its 10th anniversary, as is the PS4. To say that these venerable machines have a hard tooth is an understatement. In October 2022, Sony pledged not to “forget the millions of active players on PS4” (through Axios (opens in a new tab)). However, it would seem that older hardware is simply no longer able to keep up with the demands of modern titles.
One of the strongest signs of this phenomenon returned in 2020 with the release of Cyberpunk 2077. While bugs riddled the highly anticipated sci-fi RPG across all platforms, its last-gen console releases were particularly janky. These flaws forced PlayStation to withdraw Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store before finally back that in 2021.
The fact that Cyberpunk 2077’s PS4 edition was in such bad shape that Sony had to pull it from its store speaks volumes about the behind-the-scenes demands the wait for next-gen compatibility places on developers. Hopefully, by ditching the PS4 and Xbox One, developers can save themselves the trouble of optimizing their titles for venerable hardware.
However, in the context of the UK cost of living crisis and global economic uncertainty, I fear this trend is excluding gamers who simply cannot afford the latest hardware. As Phil Spencer of Xbox himself said: “we are not food or shelter.” Xbox and Sony need to be careful how they phase out next-gen machines, lest they alienate gamers who can’t afford the latest gadgets due to rising inflation and stagnating wages real (through the Living Wage Commission).
While it’s always sad to see beloved consoles relegated to the annals of history, the PS4 and Xbox One have more than taken their time. After nearly 10 years of good and loyal service, these robust workhorses have more than deserved a rest. The question remains, however, whether or not we are ready to let them go.