Avowed will be 30FPS on Xbox, Obsidian says ‘you don’t need’ 60FPS for first-person games

At the start of the current console generation, Microsoft spent a lot of time marketing the Xbox Series X's higher frame rate capabilities. As the years have gone on, we've seen the 60FPS standard dropped from a number of key releases, like Redfall and Starfield (at launch). Now, it appears that Obsidian's Avowed is going to follow a similar path, being limited to 30FPS at launch. 

Back when Bethesda began really showcasing Starfield, it made statements that it chose to limit the game to 30FPS in order to dial things up on the graphics/visuals front. Then months after launch, Bethesda changed its mind and added a 60FPS mode, a mode that has very little impact on the visual presentation of the game but makes a huge impact in playability and responsiveness.

Now, Obsidian Art Director, Matt Hansen, has echoed similar statements on the Iron Lords podcast, stating that the team was “targeting 30 frames per second” from an early stage, adding that “you don't necessarily need 60 frames” for a “first-person , single-player” game. According to Hansen, the frame rate sacrifice allowed the team to “get a lot juicer with VFX and lighting”.

I would argue that single-player games benefit from higher frame rates just as much as multiplayer games. I would also make the argument that the higher frame rate is almost imperative for a first-person game, more so than a third-person title, as you have a smaller field of view.

For now, it appears that Avowed will only offer a 30FPS mode at launch. However, as we saw with Redfall and Starfield, that could very well change within the first year of release. Those of us playing on PC should be able to play the game without any frame rate cap at all.

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KitGuru Says: For many, 30FPS is an unacceptable level of performance due to factors like jitter/stutter and the direct impact it has over the feel of the game. Sure, you can get the frame pacing smoothed out, but 30FPS is always going to feel worse than 60FPS and I don't think there is a single example in all of videogames where a game felt smoother and more responsive at a lower frame rate. 

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