As we get closer to the launch of Bethesda's The Evil Within, reports are beginning to surface that the PC version of the survival horror game may be locked at 30 frames per second, supposedly just like the console versions.
The news stems from Senior Producer Jason Bergman who mentioned on Twitter earlier this year that the game would run at 30 frames per second. Strangely enough, that post is gone. "We're 30," Bergman originally said. "Makes more sense for a survival horror game."
News of a 30 frames per second lock wouldn't be surprising. The company wasn't exactly forthcoming about the minimum system requirements when it originally released the recommended list of PC specifications. The company indicated that it couldn't provide a guaranteed experience for those with PCs not meeting the recommended specs.
However, Bethesda caved in to feedback and posted the minimum requirements, reporting that customers need an Intel Core i7 or an equivalent quad-core processor, a Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 card or an equivalent GPU, 4 GB of RAM, 50 GB of hard drive space and Windows 7 or 8.1. Bethesda's blog said that customers won't experience the game as intended on PCs that meet the minimum requirements, but they should still have a good time.
Save for that one missing tweet by Bergman, Bethesda has been rather quiet concerning the frame rate. Will PC gamers be able to squeeze 60 frames per second using the recommended specs? This set of requirements include the 64-bit version of Windows 7 or 8.1, an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, 4 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 670 or equivalent with 4 GB of VRAM, 4 GB of RAM and 50 GB of hard drive space.
We've reached out to Bethesda to find out where PC gamers stand in regards to the framerate. Will PC gamers be upset if the game is locked at 30 frames per second? Does it really matter whether the rate is capped in a survival horror game? Perhaps. As we understand it, you can cram a lot more detail into each frame if it's locked at 30.
Details, it seems, plays a major role in this horrifying survival game.
The Evil Within is slated to arrive on Windows PC, the two Xbox consoles and the two PlayStation consoles on October 14 in the United States.
UPDATE: Bethesda sent a link to here, which states that the game was intended to be played at 30 frames per second. However, there will be debug commands for the PC gaming crowd that will alter the framerate and aspect ratio. "These commands and changes are not recommended or supported and we suggest everyone play the game as it was designed and intended for the best experience," the FAQ said.
Also, gamers can push the resolution to 4K if they have the hardware.
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