Xbox Series S owners aren’t happy with their port of Sonic Frontiers, as the new game, which pitches Sega’s mascot into an open-world-ish environment, only runs at 30 FPS on Microsoft’s weaker Xbox console, according to various complaints from users on social media who have noted the disappointing level of performance, particularly for a franchise that’s mainly about speeding. Sega has since shared a supposed workaround for the problem, telling players with 4K displays to switch to 1080p instead, but this reportedly has no effect. A performance mode that should allow Sonic Frontiers to run at 60 FPS on the Xbox Series S is being looked into, according to Sonic community manager Katie Chrzanowski.
@KatieChrz @sonic_hedgehog The Xbox Series S version of #SonicFrontiers is broken and stuck on 30fps instead of 60fps like Microsoft/Sega said.
— Samir (@whyamihere_2) November 8, 2022
You can’t change Performance/Graphics mode here too! pic.twitter.com/G5TFsXGyVa
From a report by The Gamer:
TheGamer reached out to Sega for comment regarding Sonic Frontiers’ performance issues on Series S, and it explained that players can go into their console’s settings to improve the game’s quality. If your TV allows a 4K UHD display, then this may be the reason Sonic Frontier’s is running at 30fps. All you need to do is go into your settings and find the TV & Display Options, find the 1080p option and switch it on. Sega states that doing this should allow Sonic Frontiers to hit 60fps on Series S consoles.
A description for Sonic Frontiers, available for $59.99:
Worlds are colliding in Sonic the Hedgehog’s newest high-speed adventure! In search of the missing Chaos emeralds, Sonic becomes stranded on an ancient island teeming with unusual creatures. Battle hordes of powerful enemies as you explore a breathtaking world of action, adventure, and mystery. Accelerate to new heights and experience the thrill of high-velocity, open-zone platforming freedom as you race across the five massive Starfall Islands. Jump into adventure, wield the power of the Ancients, and fight to stop these new mysterious foes. Welcome to the evolution of Sonic games!
Discussion (7 replies)
Join Discussion →There should be something illegal about a Sonic game only running at 30FPS.
I guess the good news being that it sounds like Sega intends for the S version to be 60fps and it's a bug that's locking it to 30fps.
I really liked the idea behind the S series (same performance of an X, but at a lower res), but it sounds like devs are having a hard time hitting that metric. They probably should've just slightly cut down the X and remove the disc drive (or waited a bit once manufacturing costs lowered to release a lower end 'Slim' version of the series).
Yeah, I can see what they were attempting to do - but it just doesn't make sense putting out a "next gen" console that has less power than your current gen. The S has less capable GPU than the older One Pro. That is the part that I think they fell down on.
What they should have done is just re-configured the One Pro and cut the cost down and kept it as the lesser-cost option -- drop the RT, maybe change out the HDD for an SDD if you want to keep "high speed storage" thing in some capacity. They already have the backwards compatibility thing - the only thing that really would be missing is Raytracing, and the S doesn't really have the chops to do it anyway.
More info: [embedded media]
Related article: https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2022-sonic-frontiers-nine-versions-tested-and-only-three-deliver-60fps (Haven't watched or read yet, well I kinda skimmed some of the article, mainly the PC stuff.)
I expected 30fps on Switch, but on XBSS?!?!?!!!!
Yeah, and DF has often shown how the XB1X can perform better and have higher image quality than the XBSS, which is some bullshit. A last-gen system should never overpower a current-gen system in any way.
I don't. I don't understand why it exists. Always seemed like a stupid-@ss idea to me.
Switch has half the resolution, should help.
The way I understood it - was that it was supposed to be the same experience as the Series X but at a lower resolution. That, combined with GamePass would have made it a perfect gift for a kid/casual.
But with the way devs continually have problems developing for the Series S, I think MS clawed back the specifications too much. IMO, Sony had the better strategy for their value console (digital edition). MS should've done a similar approach, release a digital only, disc-less console (perhaps with a separate external optical drive option, ala HD DVD drive and the 360) for $100 cheaper. Or, as I mentioned earlier, wait until manufacturing matured and they could've released a version of Series S that didn't make so many hardware cuts.
Part of it is I think MS imagined devs aiming for the S and then scaling up, but they are instead (like they always do) aiming for the top and then having problems scaling down.
Just a hunch. I dunno why MS thought devs might do it the other way.