The PlayStation 5 port of Obsidian Entertainment's Grounded comes with worse performance and lower image quality than Xbox Series X, a new technical analysis revealed today.
Digital Foundry looked at the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch ports of the popular survival game, highlighting how both leave something to be desired, although the visual and performance cutbacks were expected on the Nintendo console due to its weak hardware. On Sony's console, however, the worse performance and lower image quality are quite surprising, considering how its hardware is not that different from that of the Xbox Series X.
Grounded on PlayStation 5 features a dynamic resolution range narrower than that of the Xbox Series X version - between 1080p and 1215p as opposed to 1512p to 4K - resulting in a much softer image. According to Digital Foundry, the narrower dynamic resolution range is not justified on PlayStation 5 by the port's performance, which often drops in the 50 FPS range and far from the more stable 60 frames per second on Xbox Series X. Both consoles drop below the target, but the drops on PlayStation 5 are more sustained, resulting in a worse experience without a VRR compatible display.
Rounding back to visual quality, Grounded on PlayStation 5 comes with the same visual settings as on Xbox Series X, with the exception of geometry LODs, which run at a higher setting on the Sony console, and shadow quality. Shadows' outlines are better defined on PlayStation 5, revealing a higher-quality setting than Xbox Series X, although this doesn't result in better quality due to how the game handles shadow casting. Aliasing is also more evident on PlayStation 5, with more noise and flicker.
As already mentioned above, Grounded on Nintendo Switch saw some major cutbacks to run on the console due to its low specs, such as a narrow 720p-360p docked dynamic resolution range, asset quality reduction, removal of effects such as depth of field, volumetric, and light shafts. In addition, performance is far from solid, as while the game manages to hit the 30 FPS target, frame times are all over the place, resulting in a lot of stuttering.
Grounded is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch. Learn more about the game in our review.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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