Far Cry 4 dev baffled by fascination with resolution

The creative director of Far Cry 4 has questioned whether the debate surrounding 1080p support on next-gen consoles has any impact on commercial performance.

Alex Hutchinson told OPM that the 1080p debate, in face, is far more the preoccupation of the media and a select group of core gamers than it is the buying the consumer.

"It’s a rare question for you to ask now about resolution or something," Alex Hutchinson told OPM. "It’s [only brought up] because of the disparity, the idea that one version is being held back. I don’t think that has sold consoles for a while now.

I think that’s more people trying for a story. It’s the same challenge we had all across the business, where five per cent of the audience is online commenting, and 95 per cent are just buying them or not buying them. We create these weird echo chambers for those issues, and sometimes I wonder, I don’t think this is real."

The developer also questioned the real-world impact that resolution has on modern gaming, pointing out that the rejuvenated interest in retro titles and pixel art flies in the face of the perceived importance of HD.

"It’s certainly not something I care about in a game," Hutchinson added. "It feels weird to me that people are cool about playing a sort of retro pixel game, and yet the resolution somehow matters. It’s like: is it fun, is it interesting, is it new, is it fresh, are there interesting questions?

"With the 4K TVs and things – somebody was telling me that with a 4K TV, to even see it, your living room has to be big enough to sit like 12 feet from the screen. I don’t know the exact numbers, but it starts to get a little crazy. I’m just in it for the experience, I’ll play a SNES game if it’s cool."

Ubisoft execs and developers have had lots to say about framerates and resolution recently, with the company having found itself in a little hot water over mixed messages about the console version of Assassin’s Creed: Unity.