2023 was one of many most disastrous years for PC gaming I can keep in mind. By way of highlights, we had video games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Alternative Version, and Starfield, every puffed up as main launches. No matter what you considered these video games, that they had horrible efficiency points on PC at launch, and as a lot as I hoped we’d see a course correction this 12 months, that hasn’t been the case.
The foremost points going through PC gaming right now are largely the identical as the problems it confronted at this identical level final 12 months. What’s irritating is that the problems in PC gaming right now are solvable. Right here’s what we noticed this 12 months, and the way I hope the state of affairs can enhance within the subsequent 12 months.
Unreal Engine 5 nonetheless stutters
Unreal Engine 5. Want I say extra? It’s not a good suggestion to attribute efficiency points solely to at least one recreation engine. It’s a mixture of builders, tech, and workflow that in the end results in efficiency points in PC releases, so you’ll be able to’t pin blame solely on the engine a developer chooses to make use of. If degree design makes huge ranges and artists construct highly-detailed meshes, and tech isn’t introduced into these conversations, effectively, you’ll be able to see what can go incorrect with massive AAA video games throughout growth.
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However Unreal Engine 5 actually doesn’t have an excellent monitor file.
There have been some early stumbles in video games like Immortals of Aveum and Lords of the Fallen, however because the 12 months has continued and we’ve seen an uptick in UE5 video games, there’s been a clearer development of points. I’m speaking about video games like Silent Hill 2, Stalker 2, and Black Delusion: Wukong, and that’s before talking about Intel’s struggles with UE5 in video games like Tekken 8.
The engine now contains computerized PSO caching and on-demand shader compilation, each of which ought to cut back stuttering. It simply doesn’t appear to be working. I can’t consider a extra inconsistent recreation I’ve performed this 12 months than Silent Hill 2, which must be easy given its comparatively sluggish, methodical motion. Regardless, a lot as flipping the digicam round causes an enormous hitch, which isn’t unusual in video games packing Unreal Engine 5.
It’d be much less straightforward to pin blame on UE5 if we didn’t see so many video games utilizing totally different tech to a lot higher impact. Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle — regardless of some issues that I’ll get to subsequent — is a rock-solid expertise with its use of idTech 7. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an ideal showcase for a way highly effective the FrostBite engine actually is. And Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth exhibits that the RGG Dragon Engine nonetheless has legs.
There are exceptions, in fact — most notably Dragon’s Dogma 2 and its use of the RE Engine. However practically each UE5 recreation I’ve performed this 12 months has suffered from some type of stuttering. Hopefully that gained’t proceed into subsequent 12 months as a result of there are quite a bit of video games slated to make use of Unreal Engine 5, together with Avowed, The Witcher 4, Borderlands 4, and Steel Gear Strong Delta: Snake Eater.
VRAM is extra necessary than ever
Exterior of stuttering, the opposite huge dialog in PC gaming has been VRAM. The problems began late in 2022 and actually got here to the forefront in 2023, with video games like Resident Evil 4, The Callisto Protocol, The Final of Us Half I, and Redfall struggling to achieve playable body charges on 8GB graphics playing cards, notably at greater resolutions and graphics settings.
Video games like Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle present that the VRAM challenge is getting worse, not higher. This can be a recreation that may even carry the RTX 3080 and its 10GB of VRAM to its knees at 1080p. You will get higher efficiency by turning down your graphics settings, nevertheless it’s an issue {that a} new 8GB graphics playing cards can’t max-out a AAA launch at 1080p — merely attributable to VRAM limitations.
I don’t assume we’re going again right here. There have been a lot debates about how huge the VRAM challenge actually is, and how much you can do with the entire reminiscence system with a purpose to enhance efficiency with out simply slapping one other reminiscence module on a GPU. However as AAA video games proceed to develop into bigger and extra detailed, and as they experiment with extra superior lighting by ray tracing on full-on path tracing, VRAM capability solely develop into extra necessary.
In equity to AMD and Nvidia, we didn’t see a brand new technology of graphics playing cards this 12 months. It’s honest to name 8GB GPUs just like the RTX 4060 Ti and RX 7600 short-sighted — one thing AMD and Nvidia themselves appear to acknowledge attributable to the truth that these GPUs have variants with greater reminiscence capability — nevertheless it’s additionally honest for AMD and Nvidia to satisfy the wants of avid gamers with merchandise on the time they launched. And on the time, 8GB did the job, even when indicators confirmed video games trending in a unique route.
Now, it’s plain. There are nonetheless loads of video games which can be simply tremendous with 8GB of VRAM, so I don’t wish to impose some lofty commonplace above that mark. If you happen to simply wish to play Marvel Rivals or Baldur’s Gate 3 or Fortnite, you don’t have a lot to fret about. But when AMD and Nvidia actually wish to promote the thought of a premium 1080p gaming expertise within the upcoming technology, it higher be a GPU packing greater than 8GB of VRAM.
Fixes for 2025
I’m underneath no illusions {that a} new date on the calendar will all of a sudden repair the problems with PC gaming, however there are a few easy ways in which PC gaming may drastically enhance within the upcoming 12 months. And hopefully we see these options come to fruition.
VRAM is a straightforward challenge to deal with — we’d like extra VRAM on graphics playing cards. That doesn’t imply all 8GB graphics playing cards must chunk the mud, however I’d like to see any graphics card coming in over $300 have not less than 12GB onboard. We are able to speak all day in regards to the pricing of reminiscence modules and manufacturing prices, however frankly, that’s not the priority of me otherwise you. AMD and Nvidia are a few of the largest and wealthiest firms on the planet. Allow them to determine the mathematics.
We simply acquired the Intel Arc B580, which is a $250 graphics card packing 12GB of VRAM. And positive sufficient, that further capability offers some professional efficiency advantages in video games like Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle at 1080p, and in much more video games like Forza Motorsport at 1440p. The $230 RX 480 launched greater than eight years in the past with 8GB of VRAM. It’s honest to demand extra out of graphics playing cards at $300 right now.
For stuttering, issues are extra nebulous. There are a few constructive indicators, nonetheless. Though automated PSO caching and on-demand shader compilation have been obtainable in Unreal Engine 5 for some time, there’s an excellent likelihood that the video games we noticed this 12 months weren’t utilizing the most recent and biggest experimental options of the engine throughout growth. Now that these options have been baked into a number of core Unreal Engine 5 updates, I’m hopeful they’ll enhance the stuttering state of affairs on PC.
There are additionally the enhancements of Unreal Engine 5 being extra mature generally. As extra builders learn to leverage the engine correctly, hopefully that results in extra secure experiences. That’s what we noticed with video games like Lies of P and Unreal Engine 4, not less than.
There’s quite a bit to get enthusiastic about within the upcoming 12 months, each on the sport launch entrance with titles like Doom: The Darkish Ages and on the {hardware} entrance with new generations from AMD, Nvidia, and Intel. I don’t assume PC gaming’s points will go away within the subsequent 12 months, however I hope that a few of the main traits we’ve seen over the previous few years will lastly be put to relaxation.
