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The Xbox Series X / S and PS5 consoles haven’t even hit the six-month mark yet, but game modes that favor performance or visual quality are already common. Not a week goes by without a game being updated to allow gamers to choose between demanding 4K resolution or sacrifice resolution and quality for 60fps or even 120fps modes.
Last month the big next-gen update was Control, with modes for performance and visual quality. Today it’s Overwatch with choices that let you choose between 120 fps mode or resolution and visual quality. These updates have made us fall in love with old games or appreciate how better they perform on modern consoles.
This emerging trend brings greater choice to console gaming and brings it closer to the wide array of options and modes that have been available on PC for years. During our review of the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, we noted that we felt like this trend was emerging, but I’m still surprised to see these game mode updates popping up so frequently.
So why are these game modes important? Going from 30 fps to 60 fps is obviously a big deal that has been happening in console games for years now. This translates to much smoother gameplay across a variety of titles, and it’s especially noticeable in racing games or first-person shooters. Put simply, it makes games very different and can reduce input lag and improve the way you end up playing a title.
Being able to choose between all graphics options on or some visual settings off with better performance means you can play a game the way you want. If you want a more cinematic experience, turn on the resolution mode. If you want a smooth feeling, turn on the frame rate mode. Some game developers have introduced balanced modes as well, but the choices are still relatively straightforward compared to the myriad of options in PC games.
While most games try to target 60 fps these days, the promise of ray tracing means that the option to play the way you want is increasingly important. Ray tracing provides more realistic scenes in games, with real-time lighting and effects. It’s an addition to this generation that hasn’t been fully explored by developers yet, but it comes at a performance cost which means recent games like Guard dogs: Legion should operate at 30 fps. This is where the performance modes and options can help.
Insomniac Games was quick to add new modes to Spider-Man Remastered on the PS5 to even let you enable ray tracing with a 60 fps performance mode. While the game resolves in scenes accordingly, it’s much less noticeable than if you were running at 30fps instead.
Other console game updates also target new 120 fps modes. Going from 60 fps to 120 fps may seem less meaningful to some, but I’d say it’s just as important. This is the type of change that you will notice gradually, and if you go back from 120 fps to 60 fps, you will immediately feel the difference. However, it does require a compatible TV or monitor, so a lot of people are missing out on it right now. A surprising number of games already offer 120 fps support, including big names like Call of Duty: Warzone, Destiny 2, Fortnite, and Overwatch.
Reliably hitting 120 fps means a sacrifice in resolution, so most games won’t deliver full 4K at 120 fps on these consoles. If you have the right TV or monitor, the benefits of a 120 fps mode are obvious for some games. First-person shooters like Destiny 2 feel more responsive and input latency is reduced for racing games like Dirt 5. If your TV supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), the benefits are even clearer as you get smooth gameplay without screen tearing when the frame rate drops at those higher refresh rates.
However, these new 120 fps modes do not look the same. While the Xbox Series X offers over 20 games with options at 120 fps, the PS5 has less than 10. Call of Duty: Warzone, Overwatch, and Rocket league All of them offer 120 fps options on the Xbox side, but PS5 support lags behind. Rocket league Developer Psyonix revealed last year that enabling 120 fps in Xbox games is a minor patch, but it requires a “full native port” for the PS5.
Much of this gap is with existing popular cross-platform games, and it’s bound to be one that we’ll see get closer, as developers will have more time to port the games and work on modes. Sony also plans to support VRR on the PS5 with a future update, and once that arrives, it should prompt developers to support 120 fps more often.
However, it is encouraging to see the speed of game updates for these new consoles. We may still be waiting for next-gen games and a real stock of consoles, but once you’re able to buy a new Xbox or PS5, the games you’re already playing will likely offer a lot of these new modes.
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