As the gaming industry advances to newer consoles, one developer from No Man’s Sky has offered high praise for the Xbox One X, a mid-generation console that still manages to hold its ground nearly seven years after its release. While No Man’s Sky originally launched on PlayStation 4 and PC, Martin Griffiths, an engine programmer for Hello Games, recently took to Twitter to commend the console’s surprising longevity, particularly in relation to the features still being enabled on the Xbox One X.
Released on November 7, 2017, the Xbox One X was marketed as the “world’s most powerful console” at the time, boasting a 6 teraflop GPU and 12 GB of memory, all packed in a smaller, sleeker design compared to its predecessor. Although outpaced by newer consoles like the Xbox Series X|S, the Xbox One X still proves to be a solid performer for some older games, with No Man’s Sky being a prime example.
Griffiths shared that Hello Games has successfully enabled several features of the Xbox Series X|S version of No Man’s Sky to work on the Xbox One X. Most notably, the console can now run screen space reflections, which enhance the realism of water and other liquid surfaces, a feature previously only available on next-gen consoles.
Xbox One X’s Surprising Performance for Older Titles
This praise from No Man’s Sky’s developers is timely, especially as Sony recently launched the PlayStation 5 Pro on November 7, 2024, marking a new generation of mid-console upgrades. With a 45% faster GPU and support for advanced ray tracing, the PS5 Pro is a significant leap forward in terms of hardware capabilities. However, as games like No Man’s Sky are optimized for both older and newer consoles, it highlights the surprising performance and longevity of mid-gen consoles like the Xbox One X.
No Man’s Sky’s latest iteration for the PS5 Pro takes advantage of the new hardware by offering an 8K resolution at 30fps or a smooth 60fps at 4K. While the Xbox One X cannot quite match these 8K capabilities, Griffiths’ comments offer a reminder that mid-gen consoles are still very much capable of delivering strong, updated experiences for older games.
As No Man’s Sky continues to evolve, it’s clear that developers like Hello Games are making the most of older hardware while embracing the power of newer systems—offering something for players across multiple console generations.