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Pushing the PC version of The Division too far beyond the PS4 and Xbox One versions would be “unfair” on console users, one of the game’s developers has said, stating that Ubisoft does “have to kind of keep it in check with the consoles”.
Speaking in a video posted by Team Epiphany, the unnamed developer explained that “one good thing about The Division is we’ve always considered the PC as a separate platform. I’ve worked on projects before that the PC version’s a port from a console so it carries that limitation over, but we’ve always been in the mind that we’ll have a dedicated PC build, so it hasn’t really held it back too much.
“We do have to kind of keep it in check with the consoles, because it would kind of be unfair just to push it so far away from them,” he continued. “But it’s been good having a dedicated PC build for this game. I’m really happy that we’re pushing the PC build as much as we are. There’s a lot more customised options and stuff than the console.”
The PC version of The Division includes higher resolution reflections, shadows, an improved frame rate, and the option to increase draw distance, reducing pop-in. It doesn’t, however, look as good as the reveal trailer released by Ubisoft all those years ago.
The developer goes on to explain that console users can also disable “certain lighting aspects” to improve the game’s framerate, although it isn’t yet clear how much of an improvement it makes.
Ubisoft has faced criticism from players in the past for some of its earlier PC ports, including Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and Watch Dogs, which were accused of being poorly optimised. Following the release of Assassin’s Creed 4, Ubisoft stated that “PC optimization is a key process for all our games, and Black Flag is no exception”.
“It’s absolutely not true that we don’t care about PC optimization,” said Black Flag’s associate producer Sylvain Trottier in a blog post following that game’s release. “If we didn’t care about PC optimization, then we would not have such a big team in Kiev. We have a team dedicated just to the PC version in Kiev.”
The Division launches on PS4, Xbox One and PC on March 8.
Source: youtube.com
