While thousands of people will soon have access to the Destiny beta test, developer Bungie is still optimizing the sci-fi shooter behind the scenes.
The studio confirmed today that the beta will not run at 1080p HD on Xbox One. In a livestream on IGN (as spotted by The Destiny Blog), Bungie community manager David Dague said that the studio will get 1080p working for Destiny on Microsoft’s console by the time it launches. Bungie already has it running at 1080p on PlayStation 4. The shooter will debut Sept. 9 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Destiny is one of the biggest releases for the second half of the year, and sometimes small differences (like a slightly higher resolution) could help push gamers to choose it on Sony’s platform.
The Destiny beta starts tomorrow for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. The Xbox One and Xbox 360 beta begins July 23. Both run through July 27.
Having Destiny running at 1080p on Xbox One is likely important to Microsoft. The hardware manufacturer has watched as Sony’s PlayStation 4 has outsold the Xbox One every month since their November launches. A big part of that was price, as Sony’s device was $100 less expensive until June 9, when Microsoft lowered the Xbox One to $400. Now that price is out of the way, Microsoft is still dealing with a lingering perception that the Xbox One’s hardware is inferior. Releases like Battlefield 4, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and Trails Fusion all run at lower resolutions on Xbox One than on PlayStation 4.
While most people can’t see the difference between 1080p and 900p or 720p, it still seems like it is hurting the perception of the Xbox One. And if you have to choose to get a game on one system or the other, why not get the one with potentially better visuals?
Microsoft has worked to address this disparity. It is updating the DirectX drivers that power the console, and it recently freed up some of the resources that it previously reserved for its Kinect camera for developers. This may help Destiny get to 1080p before launch, and that may help the Xbox One compete with PlayStation 4.