One of the big upcoming games due for release in 2015 is Rainbow Six: Siege. It's a multiplayer-focused, physics-heavy first-person shooter. The upcoming re-imagining of the once popular tactical shooter will be aiming for some pretty high specs when it drops next year for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Gamepur picked up quotes from an interview CVG conducted with Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot, where he revealed exactly why the team decided to focus on a higher frame-rate instead of settling for 30fps, saying...
“We realised that we needed to go first with multiplayer. Before, when we made games, we were leading first with single-player and then taking the systems from that to do multi-player. With Rainbow Six we said, 'OK, we have to change our way of doing things' - lead with mutli-player first and then make single-player from that.""That's what made us change the game totally. We decided to restart with that in mind. The decision came from what we were seeing in the marketplace and because we wanted to do a 60 frames-per-second multi-player game."
The 60fps shooter is the king of the eSports and the prime way in which every core gamer feels a game needs to be played. It's not just some random “high-spec” number. 60 frames per second reduces input lag and increases a player's capabilities with physically reacting in-synch with what's happening on screen – there's no delay. This is absolutely key for highly competitive multiplayer shooters, competitive fighting games or fast paced racing games where reaction times are measured in thousandths of a second, such as F-Zero, Counter Strike or Road Redemption.
In addition to offering better reaction times, there's also lesser strain and ease of visibility on the eyes. Usually, games at 60fps rarely maintain 60fps, but if they dip – down to say 50fps through 55fps – the strain isn't as bad because you're still losing some timing on the input latency but by forgivable fractions. At 30fps, which is only half the refresh rate of 60 frames, you're dealing with frequent possibilities of frames being dropped or frame stuttering. In the instance of this happening with a 30fps game, you're not only dealing with slower input response timing but you're now putting an extra strain on your eyes because any sub-30fps drops will cause your eyes to put in extra work as you attempt to refocus where the game should be as opposed to where it is due to the dropped frames. This scenario can oftentimes lead to frustrated button-mashing or repeated movements of the control sticks in an attempt to force the game to react as quickly as you're interpreting the data.
The above scenario is one of my biggest problems with EA Sports UFC, as a game like that would have been so much more satisfying and ever-more responsive at 60fps. The higher the frame-rate the more fluid the gameplay experience.
Did I also mention that 60fps looks darn fine in motion, too? Well, it does.
Anyway, Guillemot explains that...
“It really came from the gameplay side. We felt that the only chance we had to come with something that would be impressive in the online FPS arena was to have 60 frames-per-second and no limits imposed by having single-player. That's what made us change direction."
This is a great thing for gamers, especially those in the competitive scene because Siege now becomes prime bait for eSports propaganda.
I'm also now curious about how the team will shape a single-player experience around a multiplayer game? Does this mean that there will be scripted scenarios based on multiplayer maps similar to the original Rainbow Six on PC? That would be pretty fresh if that's the case.
Rainbow Six: Siege is due for release in 2015 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. You can check out the rest of CVG's interview right here.
