Xbox Series X ‘cares’ more about 120 fps gaming than PS5

Xbox Series X
(Image credit: Xbox)

A developer has claimed that the Xbox Series X has the power to run their game at 120 frames per second, while the PS5 can’t deliver the same results. 

That developer is Dynamic Voltage Games, which is working on Orphan of the Machine, a side-scrolling game involving the underwater adventures of a dolphin. Originally touted as an Xbox Series X exclusive, the developer will also be bringing the game to the PS5, but it won’t run at 4K and 120 fps. 

On paper, the Xbox Series X is set to beat the PS5 on sheer power alone, offering 12 teraflops of compute power over the PS5’s 10.28 teraflops. It’s not been clear how much of a difference that would make. 

But going by Dynamic Voltage Games’ tweet about the PS5 not being able to handle Orphan of the Machine running at 120 fps, it would seem the 1.72 teraflops difference will be noticeable in some titles.  

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When Dynamic Voltage Games posted on Twitter that Orphan of the Machine will be coming to the PS5 but won’t run as fast as it will on the Xbox Series X, the tweet was met with some vitriol from PlayStation fans. We’re only too aware of how vocal PlayStation fans can be, so this reaction wasn’t exactly surprising, 

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But Dynamic Voltage Games decided to tackle the negative response by explaining that it’s not down to the developer’s decision but that Sony’s console at a hardware level doesn’t seem to cater for 120 fps gaming as well as the Xbox Series X.

“[Microsoft] seems to care a lot more about 120fps than Sony does, which is why I've catered that feature to the Series X,” Dynamic Voltage Games tweeted, noting that if the resolution was dropped, then perhaps the PS5 would be able to run Orphan of the Machine at 120 fps.  

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Dynamic Voltage Games did note it’s not blaming Sony for the frame rate difference. Rather it said “different hardware, different results”, which indicates that while the two consoles share the same AMD-based processor and graphics architecture, they are approaching it in different ways. 

It could be that the Xbox Series X is designed in a way that allows developers to better access its power in order to run games at 120 fps. However, neither Microsoft nor Sony have revealed many games that will run at 4K and 120 fps. It’s looking that 4K at 60 fps is going to be the more common target, and the PS5 appears to be able to hit that. 

Microsoft has its Xbox 20/20 event on July 23 where it will showcase a whole range of mostly first-party Xbox Series X games. So we’re expecting to get a better glimpse at what the Xbox Series X can do. 

We’ve already seen Sony show off some upcoming PS5 games, with the likes of Horizon Forbidden West looking spectacular. So even if Sony can’t quite deliver on widespread 120 fps gaming, it’s still in an enviable position to deliver next-generation gaming. 

Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.