Contrary to previous reports, Crytek developer feels the PlayStation 5 can sustain its 10.3 TFLOPs better and is easier to develop for than the Xbox Series X

Ever since Microsoft and Sony revealed the innards of their respective consoles, we have been seeing many discussions pertaining to the merits and demerits of their configurations. While the debate continues, a Crytek rendering engineer by the name of Ali Salehi opined that it is easier to develop for the PlayStation 5 (PS5) than the Xbox Series X. 

Salehi's interview was first published by the Persian gaming website Vigiato. The website later removed the interview and Salehi desisted from confirming its contents due to personal reasons. But this is the internet and everything is preserved for posterity. Wccftech carried a report of Salehi's interview translated by Twitter user @man4dead and this is what it says.

According to Salehi, though the Xbox Series X is the more powerful one on paper, it is easier to achieve peak performance with the PS5. He said, "Software-wise, coding for PS5 is extremely simple and has so many abilities that make the [developers] so free. In total, I can say PS5 is a better console." This is contrary to previous reports which indicated that PS5 devs "have no idea what to optimize for" and that "it cannot deliver the power you ask it to even in short bursts". 

Salehi also feels that hitting the 12 TFLOPs peak performance on the Xbox Series X will only be possible under ideal conditions if all components work at their peak efficiency. However, he feels that is not the case with the PS5, which will work at the 10.28 TFLOPs peak performance for the most part. PS5 Chief Architect Mark Cerny also drove home the point that TLOPs are not the only performance metric during the PS5 reveal last month.

Also, multiplatform developers will aim for the lowest common denominator in order to ensure more or less equal performance across consoles. The somewhat higher specs of the Xbox Series X should allow for more stable framerates at higher resolutions, though.

The exact differences when it comes to game development for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are unlikely to be revealed by multiplatform game studios. Looking at it from a PC perspective, Microsoft does seem to have the edge when it comes to the software given that the Xbox runs a modified version of Windows 10 with full support for DirectX 12 and Vulkan. The PS5 runs a custom OS but may offer a better toolset enabling deeper access to hardware and lower development turnaround time. 

While both the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 are shaping to be drool-worthy offerings for gamers in terms of hardware, their actual success can only be ascertained once they start shipping and games become available.