Interview: Microsoft about PUBG, DirectX 12, core monsters and HDR
PC Games Hardware had the opportunity to talk to different Microsoft spokespersons via email. Covered topics are important trends in der hardware and gaming industry. In the interview we talked about the Xbox One (X), PUBG, DirectX 12, multicore CPU monsters, VR/MR and HDR.
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We had the opportunity for an email interview with Mike Ybarra, Corporate Vice President, Xbox-Plattform, Kevin Gammill, Partner Group Program Manager, Mike Rayner, Technical Director The Coalition, Nico Bihary, Executive Producer, Microsoft Global Partner Publishing (2nd Party) and Adam Isgreen, Creative Director Microsoft Studios.
➤ Cross-play between PC and Xbox One seems to be one of the biggest topics at Microsoft right now but actually it's not really new if you look at 2007 and the Games for Windows initiative with Shadowrun. What has changed since then?
Mike Ybarra, Corporate Vice President, Xbox-Plattform: At Xbox, we have a vison to deliver the games you want to play, across the devices you want to play on, connecting you to the people you want to play with - in ways that matter to gamers. For this to succeed, having a modern, game-focused version of Windows is critical—and that's Windows 10, the best version of Windows ever for gaming. Cross-play, and more broadly, cross-network play, enables gamers on Xbox One to play with and against gamers on Windows 10. The easiest way to do this is using Xbox Live but we're also working closely with developers to enable cross-network play - for example, Xbox Live working with the developers' multiplayer servers to enable people to play across separate multiplayer networks (Xbox Live with games using Steam as exemplified with "Rocket League", and even with "Rocket League" on Nintendo). Ultimately, for Microsoft, it's all about delivering memorable experiences to gamers, and empowering developers to reach and connect even more people who play games, regardless of the screen they sit down at.
➤ For certain games like shooters, there's still a balancing problem if you have an Xbox One player with controller on one side and a PC player with mouse and keyboard on the other side. At least if you're playing competitive. Is there a solution to the problem?
Mike Ybarra, Corporate Vice President, Xbox-Plattform: Ensuring a fun and fair experience is not only one of our top priorities, but also a top priority for just about every developer we speak with. I think it's great that we see games like "Destiny 2" come out for Windows, and offer controller and mouse and keyboard support - even in competitive modes like Trials of the Nine. Surprisingly, I see controller "pro" gamers doing just as well as mouse and keyboard in some cases. But in general, we are well aware of the difference with input and the impact that can have in most gaming scenarios. For us, we're really about enabling developers to manage their game experience the way they want. Xbox Live will offer different multiplayer pools - meaning you can have matchmaking work in such a way that controller gamers only match with other people using a controller for input, or mouse and keyboard gamers only with other mouse and keyboard users. Alternatively, the developer can also have a multiplayer pool that lets you match with a player using any input. Ultimately, it will be up to individual developers to decide how best to implement this support within their games to ensure a fair and balanced gaming experience.
➤ Recently we read about mouse and keyboard support for certain games like Minecraft on Xbox One. Will we see more Xbox One games in the future with support for PC peripherals? Is this a way to balance multiplayer in cross-play titles?
Mike Ybarra, Corporate Vice President, Xbox-Plattform: We're excited about mouse and keyboard support in beta for Minecraft players on Xbox One to test and help refine the experience based on player feedback. I hope we see more developers give gamers even greater user choice on input, while balancing the overall experience to ensure a fair and fun scenario. Again, it's really up to the developer to decide how they'd like to implement and we're ready to support them in making their games great.
➤ Age of Empires 4 was announced showing the Windows Store logo. So there will be no Steam version of AoE 4? What was the reason for this as Age II HD is available on Steam?
Adam Isgreen, Creative Director Microsoft Studios: We're committed to the future of the Age franchise with "Age of Empires IV," but have nothing further to share at this time.
Source: PUBG Corporation
One of the topics in the interview is Microsoft's coop with the developer of PUBG.
➤ The cooperation with PUBG Corp. on PUBG sounds very interesting - especially on the development side. What kind of techniques from Microsoft will we see in PUBG in the future?
Nico Bihary, Executive Producer, Microsoft Global Partner Publishing (2nd Party): By partnering with PUBG Corp., we were able to provide our expertise, institutional knowledge and background in console development in the areas of publishing, production, QA and our Advanced Technology Groups efforts in code optimization, and support to launch "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" ("PUBG") exclusively on Xbox One through the Xbox Game Preview program. A small example of that is the work that the veteran team at The Coalition has done in providing feedback, advice and tuning support on translating the controls from the original mouse and keyboard settings to controller. Other examples include doing all the QA testing for "PUBG" on console, which includes translating bugs into Korean for their team to manage and solve. We're also helping further localize "PUBG" in a number of languages, allowing the team to bring it to even more markets around the world.
➤ DirectX 12 is on the market for two years now. The outcome on the gaming side is rather small - we see around 20 games with DX12 that are currently available. What do you think are the main reasons for that? Will 2018 see a dramatic change in games using low level APIs? Do you work actively together with game developers to push the usage of DX12?
Kevin Gammill, Partner Group Program Manager: DirectX 12 introduced the next version of Direct3D, the graphics API at the heart of DirectX. This version provided a lower level hardware abstraction than ever before, allowing games to significantly improve multithreaded scaling and CPU utilization, enabling richer scenes, more objects, and full utilization of modern GPU hardware. From our own testing, we've seen DirectX 12 reduce processor power consumption up to 50% without sacrificing performance.
Making such a large leap in performance without sacrificing GPU and CPU cycles requires game engines such as Unity, Unreal, and bespoke engines such as Frostbite, to implement the Direct3D APIs. This takes time and we are working closely with our development partners to make this transition when they are ready. In general, the number of DirectX 12 titles available today is on par with DirectX 11 adoption at this point in the Windows 7 lifecycle, and support is getting better every day. With support from additional game engines like CryEngine and Amazon Lumberyard over the last, we're feeling optimistic about DirectX 12 adoption going forward.
➤ With the release of the Xbox One X, the need for Ultra HD assets will be pushed even further. Will we see higher specs for gaming PCs as well as assets becoming bigger and bigger?
Kevin Gammill, Partner Group Program Manager: It's an exciting time for gamers, especially those who want to play in 4K, with UHD capable PCs gaining traction in the market and Xbox One X just released. One of the reasons we have over 90 Xbox One X enhanced games is game developers already had 4K assets for the PC versions of their titles and I think we'll see developers continue to push the boundaries and create games that are more lifelike than ever. As a gamer and a general computer geek, I can't wait!
Source: PC Games Hardware
Kevin Gammill: New hardware is what has and will continue to drive the gaming industry
➤ In 2017 we saw a revolution in the desktop CPU market with AMD and Intel releasing core monsters like Ryzen (Threadripper) and Skylake X. Do you think that the massive leap in usable CPU cores for gaming developers will lead to better optimization for Xbox One and Windows 10 games as well?
Kevin Gammill, Partner Group Program Manager: New hardware is what has and will continue to drive the gaming industry in terms of what's possible from immersion, fidelity and performance points of view. Another example of this is the multi-threading capabilities unlocked by DirectX 12, which enables games to shine graphically on multi-core CPUs. Ultimately, newer and faster hardware will deliver more performant gaming opportunities for developers to build and gamers to enjoy. But, that process takes some time—for developers to ingest and optimize against the hardware and for gamers to adopt and purchase it, too. For example, some critically acclaimed games released this holiday season have been built on and optimized against hardware that is now a number of years old.
➤ From your perspective and experience with game developers: What are the main technical hurdles to scale game performance beyond 4-6 cores in games?
Mike Rayner, Technical Director The Coalition: It is fairly common for highly parallelizable systems such as animation, physics and rendering to be written to run across multiple cores to scale performance. Effectively scaling beyond 4-6 cores requires eliminating as much overhead as possible to remove bottlenecks. With tools like PIX for Windows we can identify performance hot-spots, stalls and inefficient memory access patterns. PIX enabled us to optimize our parallel access patterns and identify additional systems to run on multiple cores such as audio processing, network packet management, file decompression, AI path finding and View management. Using the DirectX 12 Graphics API we are able to reduce CPU driver overhead significantly and optimize for true multi-core rendering that DirectX 11 lacks. Finally, optimizing single-core performance using SIMD vector optimized DirectXMath and Visual Studio's optimizing C++ compiler further reduced bottlenecks and multiplied the benefits of multi-core scaling.
Source: Windows Blogs
Mike Ybarra: I'm very eager to see what happens in the VR and MR space
➤ VR is also one of the hottest topics for some time now and Microsoft and partners will enter the market with MR headsets in October. As VR is obviously highly correlated with fast PC hardware: Do you think 2018 will be THE Year for VR content and hardware? In your opinion, what is hindering the VR market to skyrocket even more in the last 2 years? Is it pricing, content, hardware requirements - or all of these?
Mike Ybarra, Corporate Vice President, Xbox-Plattform: I'm very eager to see what happens in the VR and MR space, particularly as even more developers create even more unique experiences. Right now, a Windows PC is the best platform for mixed reality as its open ecosystem and enormous install base offer the best opportunity for developers. I think as an industry we have a ways to go to ensure the consumer experience is right for mass consumer adoption. The tech isn't quite there yet, but we're making big strides and the future potential is encouraging. It's an exciting time and I can't wait to see it all and play it all.
➤ HDR seems to be one of the big display topics for 2018 and beyond. From your perspective: How difficult is it to implement HDR properly as the first implementations in games seem to over exaggerate contrast? Do you think that HDR will become a standard like 4K in the near future?
Source: VESA
Kevin Gammill: HDR is a big opportunity for game developers
Kevin Gammill, Partner Group Program Manager: HDR is a big opportunity for game developers to exercise more artistic control, and push the boundaries on realism when it comes to color and light in games. HDR encoding enables a much greater difference between the darkest and brightest parts of an image, so artists and developers can now integrate realistic light sources and materials that were not possible without HDR into their content. For example, HDR metal objects really look like metal because their specular highlights are stored in the HDR signal and recreated by HDR displays. HDR also enables an increased capability to represent a more natural range of colors and maintain saturation in bright areas of an image. It's a real step-up in terms of creative opportunity in the gaming industry and beyond.
There are new considerations for artists and developers to work through when creating games for HDR, including taking a more rigorous approach to lighting, particle effects and material creation. There are also practical needs like having equipment on hand that supports HDR. Many game studios have already worked to "future proof" their content by taking these considerations into account. Many game engines that already use physically-based rendering perform rendering calculations using HDR internally, which can be unlocked to adjust for HDR displays.
As with any new technology there is adaption for engineers and creatives - but there are many beautiful HDR games available today. Games that target HDR early in development are becoming more common and this will lead to even better implementations of the technology as developers become more familiar building for HDR displays. We've also noted that the more rigorous approach to content when working on HDR also accrues value to the non-HDR image as well. This will continue to get better as more displays show up in the market, in particular as HDR monitors for PCs begin to appear in the year ahead.
4K and HDR are great complimentary technologies that make a big improvement to image quality so it's likely that, similar to the TV market, you'll see both features together. For some, HDR may have a bigger impact than resolution or vice versa so allowing flexibility for individual preferences is important. It is really about giving our development partners the choice for what they think is best for their game.
