Microsoft has learned over the past few months that while the Kinect is a cool piece of technology, in most cases it’s holding back the Xbox One gaming experience for titles that opt not to use it. So, a new SDK has been created which will allow developers to completely disable the Kinect, freeing up reserved power to employ for gaming purposes. Sunset Overdrive is the first game to come forward and share what it’s been able to do with the new build.
Brand development director Ryan Schneider shared with GamingBolt that the new Xbox One SDK has allowed Insomniac to beef up Sunset Overdrive‘s gaming experience. He shared:
For us it’s really more about pushing the number of characters on the screen and particles in the game. If you play the game you will see there are a lot of things that are happening on the screen.
He added:
It really is great to be supported by Xbox.
Microsoft estimates that this adjustment will allow for a 10 – 15% increase in power for developers. In some cases, that’ll mean an increase in resolution. In others, as in the case of Sunset Overdrive, more can be thrown onto the screen at any given time without suffering dramatic frame rate loss.
The new SDK is a direct response by Microsoft to gamers and developers looking for next-gen graphics. Although the Xbox One will always be less powerful than the PS4, the least it can do is try to minimize the gap as much as possible.
Related: Sunset Overdrive E3 2014 Preview
Insomniac is currently aiming for Sunset Overdrive to run at 900p resolution with 30 FPS. Although those numbers aren’t particularly impressive, it has a highly detailed open-world environment with a ton going on, including hundreds of monsters running around at any given time.
