NetEase’s Thunderfire Universe X Studio’s free-to-play battle royale game makes its console debut, and its producer says it will reach a similar level as Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling technology on PlayStation 5 Pro.
WCCFTech interviewed Liu Yongcheng, console producer of Naraka: Bladepoint. The game is quite popular, so it has a new game mode and a new character (Crya, who can also act as a healer, damage dealer, and enemy controller). Liu says the PlayStation 5 Pro will run at twice the speed of the base PlayStation 5, and can also use the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaler to achieve a similar level of performance to the DLSS.
“The GPU upgrade is very significant, providing approximately double the performance improvement for Naraka: Bladepoint. The most impressive features are PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and VRS. In particular, VRS, when applied to certain rendering processes, can drastically reduce rendering time. This is extremely important for a competitive game. The PlayStation 5 version is our first console game, so unfortunately we did not have the experience of transitioning from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Thanks to Naraka: Bladepoint’s large PC user base and our diligent efforts, we release game updates frequently, with major content updates every 2-3 weeks. As a result, you will constantly notice new graphical technologies and features being added to the game. For the console version, our usual approach is to optimize the performance of these updates as much as possible, rather than keeping everything the same. Therefore, Sony’s recent hardware upgrade will allow us to integrate many of the accumulated graphical effects into the console version in a timely manner,” said Liu.
He went on to explain what the game can do on the PlayStation 5 Pro and what graphics modes to expect: “We can achieve 4K 60FPS on the PlayStation 5 Pro without using upscaling technologies, which is not possible on the PlayStation 5. In balanced mode, the PlayStation 5 Pro with PSSR enabled offers better visual quality compared to the PlayStation 5 using other upscaling methods, while still maintaining a stable frame rate. As a live service battle royale game, it puts a lot of stress on the CPU, often resulting in CPU bottlenecks under many circumstances. As a result, there is some FPS difference between the PlayStation 5 Pro and high-end PCs. However, we have implemented different graphics modes to give our fans more freedom of choice.
Quality mode offers native 4K ultra-clear visuals for a better visual experience. Balanced Mode enhances fluidity while maintaining 4K resolution, balancing both visual quality and smoothness. Frame Rate Mode provides native 1080P visuals for users who require the highest frame rates. Naraka: Bladepoint uses PSSR. We believe that the various upscaling technologies have had the most significant impact on game development in recent years, and we are actively embracing this trend while also exploring the application of new graphics technologies. When comparing PSSR to Nvidia’s DLSS, the overall visual performance is similar, with minor differences in some small details. For a competitive game, we strive to ensure that players will not notice these differences during regular gameplay unless the platform’s performance cannot support it,” Liu added.
Finally, the developer also talked about why he thinks the high price is understandable: “From a developer’s perspective, better GPUs and CPUs provide more development headroom and help us apply new graphics technologies to our games. The high prices could be due to various reasons, such as changes in chip prices, increased manufacturing costs, and so on. I hope that these factors do not prevent players from experiencing the games they love. Therefore, we will continue to support both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro versions to ensure that every PS player who enjoys Naraka: Bladepoint can have a great experience with the game.
PlayStation 5 Pro will be available from November 7th.
Source: WCCFTech
