AMD’s FidelityFX technology has been added to the Xbox Series X/S Game Development Kit, officially announced through the AMD Gaming Twitter account. This will allow developers to implement graphical features on Xbox Series X/S consoles that were previously limited to PC, where FidelityFX was initially made available.
AMD’s FidelityFX tech is adaptive software that offers a variety of image sharpening enhancements for developers to more easily implement into their games. Standout features of FidelityFX include variable shading, screen space reflections and ambient occlusion, all of which add significant visual depth to an image without compromising game performance.
Xbox Series X/S consoles are powered by AMD's RDNA 2 CPUs and Zen 2 GPUs, meaning that FidelityFX is a logical fit for Microsoft’s flagship consoles. However, there’s currently no word on whether AMD plans to add FidelityFX support to PS5 game development kits in future, meaning that upcoming Xbox Series X/S titles could have a graphical edge over the competition, at least for now.
🚨 Attention gamers 🚨@AMD FidelityFX is here for Xbox Series X|S! Developers can now offer the incredible visuals and platform-specific benefits FidelityFX already delivers on over 40 PC games.Learn more in our blog recapping all things #GameStackLive.April 20, 2021
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Further fidelity
As FidelityFX has only just been added to Xbox Series X/S game development kits, it will likely be a while before we start seeing how AMD’s tech benefits console gaming. However, FidelityFX could represent a breakthrough moment for future Xbox exclusives like Fable, Perfect Dark and Everwild.
FidelityFX could prove to be a huge boon for the Xbox Series S in particular, with supported features like super resolution set to smartly upscale images below 4K. The prospect might make the Xbox Series S console seem less like a halfway house between last generation’s Xbox One X and Microsoft’s flagship Xbox Series X.
As much as we’d love to see FidelityFX available to developers on PS5, that might not be as straightforward as you might think. While exclusives like Demon’s Souls and the upcoming Horizon: Forbidden West show us how graphically impressive PS5 games can be, Xbox Series X/S consoles are the only ones on the market that feature full AMD RDNA 2 architecture. This could make FidelityFX integration a bit more difficult on PS5.
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