In a surprising turn of events, the PlayStation 5 rendition of Sea of Thieves has emerged as the graphical frontrunner when juxtaposed with its Xbox Series X/S edition. A recent analysis scrutinizing both versions of Sea of Thieves on the respective platforms unveiled a visual prowess favoring the PS5.
Amidst swirling speculations, Xbox made waves in February by announcing the release of four first-party titles, including Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded, on rival consoles like PlayStation and Nintendo. Phil Spencer, the Head of Microsoft Gaming, emphasized that this strategic move was aimed at ensuring the long-term vitality of Xbox. Noteworthy exclusives such as Starfield and Indiana Jones are not part of this inter-platform migration. To date, Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush have made their debut on PS5, with each showcasing intriguing enhancements over their Xbox Series X counterparts.
The trend persists with Sea of Thieves as experts at Digital Foundry meticulously compared the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 iterations, yielding compelling results. Analogous to the scenario encountered with Hi-Fi Rush, the PS5 rendition of Sea of Thieves features markedly crisper and intricately detailed shadows. This advantage holds true whether observed in proximity or at a distance, with the PS5 nearly mirroring the supreme shadow quality settings on the PC variant of the game. Additionally, the PS5 excels in rendering distant foliage details, akin to ultra settings on PC, surpassing the Series X in draw distance performance.
PS5 Unveils Another Ace
Both cutting-edge consoles boast a pristine 3840x2160p resolution output (sans temporal anti-aliasing), yet the framerate comparison bears significance once more. While aiming for a default 60fps, Sea of Thieves on Series X encounters frame drops due to frequent spikes in frame times, potentially attributed to network gameplay. In this aspect, the PS5 demonstrates slightly smoother performance, with sporadic spikes, albeit less frequent than its Microsoft counterpart. However, an apparent flaw in the PS5 version manifests as intermittent freezes necessitating a complete game reboot. Notably, Digital Foundry evaluated the recent open beta build of Sea of Thieves on PS5, implying that the code remains subject to alterations, and the issue might be rectified before the official launch on April 30, 2024.
With Pentiment boasting double the framerate of Series X and the superior shadow rendition in Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves emerges as the latest Xbox release to shine (in some aspect) on the PS5. The phenomenon of Xbox's proprietary titles exhibiting enhanced aesthetics and performance on its direct competitor elicits bewilderment, hinting at potential astute optimizations during the PS5 port development process. These enhancements could potentially trickle down to Xbox consoles in the future, reminiscent of Pentiment's 120Hz functionality. While the disparity could fuel console rivalry discussions, aficionados of Sea of Thieves on both PlayStation and Xbox stand to benefit from technical upgrades, alongside an expanded player community for the game.