Problems With Multiplatform Game Releases

Video games are a curious thing. Designing them, despite popular perception, is an incredibly difficult and harrowing task. Gamers demand games that look good, perform flawlessly, and are available on all available platforms. And why shouldn’t they, given that the options are available? The problem is that video games are extremely complicated beasts, and porting them over to multiple platforms is not as easy as some assume.

Different gaming platforms have different resources, and those resources are available in varying, often misunderstood ways. A PlayStation 4, for example, is very underpowered in comparison to a modern gaming PC. But why then, can a game that works well on a PlayStation 4 seem to struggle on a computer many times more powerful? It all comes down to how the game takes advantage of available resources. After all, a person can have a storage space the size of a football field, but not be able to store much in that space, assuming that they haphazardly toss items into the football field, as opposed to stacking the items carefully.

Time Constraints Are A Problem

A PlayStation 4 is identical to every other PlayStation 4 in existence, just like the online blackjack Canada offers will be the same as those played elsewhere in the world.. Each has the same amount of resources, the same amount of processing power, and will perform in the exact same way. Hence, a game that is designed for one PlayStation 4 will perform exactly the same on every PlayStation 4. But what if you take that same game, and now try and insert it onto a different system, with different specifications and resources?

Or, imagine training a person to work a filing system flawlessly, only to put that same person at a filing system that is ultimately the same thing, but works on a slightly different system. The person would likely be able to use the filing system, but not as quickly or efficiently. That is more or less what happens when directly porting a game from one gaming platform, to another.

The person could reorganise the filing system to how they are used to it being, but that would involve them tackling the enormous task or rearranging thousands of files. That is something like optimising a game to work on a different gaming platform. It is possible, but often extremely time consuming. And, if it was not already widely known, game developers have very limited time to make games, and port them to other gaming platforms.

Best Games Are Platform Exclusive

All this gives rise to the situation that the best games are generally platform exclusive, which is a problem in many regards. Uncharted 4, for example, is one of the most widely praised games in history, featuring incredible visuals, flawless performance, and amazing design. But Uncharted 4 was always going to be PlayStation 4 exclusive.

The developers knew this, and so dedicated 100% of their time to making the best possible game, without having to consider how to port the game to other platforms. Of course, the game didn’t sell nearly as well as it could have, had it been available on other platforms. On the other hand, many bought a PlayStation 4 simply to play that game, and that was, ultimately, the goal.