Ghostwire Tokyo was an odd case when it was released last March for PC and Playstation 5. There was no Xbox Series S/X version to choose from, despite Microsoft owning both developer Tango Gameworks and publisher Bethesda Softworks as well as the game itself.
The reason was that Sony signed a time exclusivity agreement before Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda went into effect, and as a result, Ghostwire Tokyo has only been released to Xbox Series S/X (and is also included with Game Pass) the other day. Many probably thought that a Microsoft-owned developer would put a little extra love into the Xbox version because these gamers partly had to wait longer, and partly precisely because it is a game for its own ecosystem.
However, that does not seem to be the case, but when the technology wizards at Digital Foundry now reviewed both versions, it’s clear that the PC version is still the best, and that the Xbox version is noticeably worse than the year-old Playstation dito… and then you have to remember that the latter wasn’t very impressive to begin with. Digital Foundry says:
“The PS5 simply runs Ghostwire: Tokyo in substantially better form than (Xbox) Series X, which is definitely a disappointment considering how poorly the PS5 ran the title to begin with. Series S runs considerably worse than either of the higher-end console platforms.”
After a thorough review of the game for both Playstation and Xbox, they state:
“Ghostwire: Tokyo on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S is a big disappointment. The key problems from the PS5 release haven’t been fixed, so performance is inconsistent, input feels really sluggish, and there are a ridiculous number of visual options. And, on top of those common issues, frame rates tend to be substantially lower, and ray tracing quality is worse and suffers from visual glitches.”
Whether Tango Gameworks will fix the Xbox version feels doubtful. Ghostwire Tokyo was never a big seller and after the success of Hi-Fi Rush, it is more likely that they will put all their energy into new projects instead, which will however be console exclusives for Xbox.
Tack Pure Xbox
