The PlayStation 5 lead system architect Mark Cerny is surprised by the wide adoption of ray tracing, which he expected to see more in the latter parts of the current console generation, and the push for 60 frames per second, which has sort of become a universal rule.
Speaking with GamesIndustry last month, the man mostly responsible for the Playstation 4 and the PlayStation 5 discussed his long career, the present, and possibly the future of gaming. Asked about what has surprised him the most in the current console generation, Mark Cerny revealed that he has been surprised by the wide adoption of ray tracing. Adding ray tracing capabilities to the current generation console was a late decision, and he thought that the technology would be used in games released late in the generation. On the contrary, several launch titles supported ray tracing, which made him happy.
The PlayStation 5 lead system architect was also surprised by the current generation’s push for 60 frames per second, which was unexpected based on previous console generations.
“The other thing that has been surprising is the push to 60 frames per second. Based on previous console lifecycles, I would have expected there to be a lot more games that are 30 frames per second only, just because the artwork can be so much more detailed if you have longer time to render it. Instead, the almost universal rule this time around has been the games run at 60.”
During the same interview, the PlayStation 5 lead system architect also commented on the impact Sony’s consoles have had on the larger industry, such as putting pressure on the PC world with the PS5’s SSD and on the Playstation to PC ports, which have been proven to be simpler than many thought. To compensate for games taking advantage of bespoke console features not available on PC, the minimum requirements for CPU and RAM were increased to compensate, and so far, it is undeniable Sony has done a very good job, barring a few disappointing ports that took some months to fix.
“There’s a recent development here, which is console exclusives that were created to run on bespoke PlayStation systems are now making their way to PC. That conversion has been simpler than many thought. The main consequence is that the minimum spec for the PC version of the game gets a bit higher, perhaps more CPUs or more RAM, in order to replace the missing systems.”
Having led the development of the PlayStation 5, Mark Cerny undoubtedly led the creation of the upcoming Pro model. While the new hardware has yet to be officially announced, we already know, thanks to leaks, that it will come with some new features like the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution upscaler and better ray tracing performance that will likely impact the industry as a whole as much as some of the base model’s features did.
