Fortnite is a free-to-play third-person shooter which features building mechanics and even a PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds-like Battle Royale mode where a hundred players compete for the top spot. Currently, the game runs at 1080p 30 FPS on PlayStation 4 Pro and 1728p 30 FPS on Xbox One X. However, Epic Games plans on changing that soon by introducing a new 60 FPS option for competitive Battle Royale matches.
In a post on its website, Epic Games revealed that the mode was coming this February. The mode will use a dynamic scaling solution in order to achieve the highest resolution possible while the game runs at 60 FPS.
Later this month we plan to add an optional 60 FPS mode for Battle Royale on consoles (PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One X). This 60 FPS mode is tuned for each console to maximize frame rate while minimizing loss of visual quality.
We don't know what the resolution will be on Xbox One X given the fact that it already runs at 1728p. Hopefully, the game will at least run at 1080p 60 FPS on Microsoft's new machine once the update hits. Given the fact that no other console manages visuals higher than 1080p, it's unclear how much of an impact the 60 FPS option will have on their graphics. Epic Games should explain what "minimizing loss of visual quality" refers to for each system because playing a game at 720p or less on a modern 4K display is a jarring experience.
Despite that, the 60 FPS option is a welcome addition because it should reduce input lag and make shooting feel even better. Hopefully we won't have to wait too many days for the patch to hit Fortnite on consoles. Doubling the frame rate usually cuts input lag in half. While these changes are as small as a couple of milliseconds, they still make a noticeable difference to how responsive the controls feel. Input lag is the main reason why games can feel clunky, so any update which changes this is noteworthy.
Update 2/28/18: Fortnite's latest update adds a 60 FPS option but, according to Epic Games, it also adds support for 4K resolution on Xbox One X. The game was previously limited to 1728p on the console so it's unclear if this means that they've increased the resolution to native 4K or are using another solution like checkerboarded rendering. We've reached out to Epic Games for more details and shall update this post as soon as we hear back.
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