I always thought the game running anything but great and everything was due to the engine, or well, part of the problem.
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Well, yeah Ark used UE4 and was junk
Standard UE4 that Ark uses does not handle open world games by the nature of how it works. It requires loading in of any referenced object and then every object they reference and ripples out until it has the entire universe loaded. So despite being in one starting region you have now loaded up everything in the Ark world. Now you have vast majority of memory used by items and mobs not even visible or within immediate traveling distance. On top of that, your cpu is busy running the AI and simulation code for objects not visible as well.
To get UE4 to work well requires heavy developer refactoring and customization, such as what was done with Days Gone. The standard UE5 resolves the open world issues.
This is why most UE4 games used smaller zones and had walking segments or slow-up events when youâre transitioning between zones. It was to hide the loading of the new zone. This is why Gears had so many mission brief updates or communication moments in the games. It was to load up the new carved out smaller zones. Its also why you could not back track.
Its also why even in Gears 5 âopen worldâ was mostly empty and any time you got to an area of interest it had loading screens, cinematics, or communication events where you could only walk slowly. And that was on a largely refactored / customized engine too.
I like the activity of Xbox accounts on twitter. Game Pass, Xbox, Microsoft execs - all chat with various people, studios and publishers.
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Just a reminder that last year (and the year before) Xbox made available game demos of games under development the week starting on the Game Showcase. It was the first place many of us got to get our hands on games like Tunic. Hopefully itâll happen next week.
GOC
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What would be extremely funny if Xbox were to announce FF7R part 1 coming to Game Pass this month. Trailer of part 2 where itâs either timed exclusive for a few months or a full year.
Bit like Yakuza LAD how that came out on XSX first and only for PS4 too and several months later for PS5, lol. It would just be funny to see reactions of silly fanboys.
But first letâs see part 1 coming, nothing is certain on that at all yet.
Microsoft does not do time exclusivity longer than 3 months these daysâŚMuch less for big titles. Though I think RoTR situation would not happen these days. Unlike media, only discourse is in favor of Xbox and donât like Playstation that much these days.
Also regarding P2 it is remains to be seen in what state it is. It seems like Square Enix is not fast these days.
LAD was released on PS4 year or something earlier but XSX only had time exclusive for next gen version.
Xbox will definitely not be announcing FF7R Pt 2, lol. Letâs just be happy if we see Pt 1 announced.
I dont see FF7R happening at all at this point
If somehow it does and Sony do the same with part 2 
Well like I said earlier if FF7R1 gets ported then Xbox is getting the rest day 1. Xbox is not blindly gonna pay for the first without negotiating with Square to set up a contract that ensures the rest of them must release day 1 on Xbox.
I think P2 will be Day 1
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Yeah that would be my thinking as well
Would be a bad look to finally get part 1 years later and then having to do the same for part2/3 etc
But thatâs also part of the reason why I think its not happening as Sony will have likely tried to lock down part 2 already
Yep if Sony already has timed exclusivity contracts on future FF7R games then you will never see them on Xbox, even after the timed period is up, unless Square starts porting them on their own freely, which they wonât, because they wouldnât sell well without Game Pass.
Anyway, this showcase might tell us a lot about Xbox relations with japanese third parties (pls buy Capcom or Square Enix Microsoft. Better Capcom)
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With the underwhelming sales I wouldnât be surprised if Square approached Xbox.
Nah. Its only one part of the equation. There are successfull open world games on UE4 like Fortnite or Crackdown 3 with good performance.
âA fool with a tool is still a foolâ
This is what Epic tells you. Why should i take their marketing speak at face value? Their open world stack in UE5 is new and comple. New and complex stuff is buggy. Ark has also lots of crafting and building stuff where they have to customize UE5 for sure.
Lets just wait for the end product before we judge this.
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Thatâs a horrible assumption, FF13 and FF15 solid well in Xbox. Idk why you think FF wouldnât sell well on Xbox.
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I do wonder if Square Enix regrets PS exclusivity for FF16 (not even PC). Maybe thatâs why I delayed it for straight another year - to get more PS consoles out there.
FF would sell well on Xbox if it was day 1 with the PS versions. Late ports on the other hand, especially 2 year old late ports, might not sell that well especially if they donât get marketed. Late ports are very handicapped in sales generally, they need something like Game Pass to help.
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