Despite Microsoft marketing the Xbox Series X as the most powerful console with 12 teraflops of processing capability, early technical comparisons between the new consoles show no consistent performance advantage for the Series X over the PlayStation 5.
Two weeks after launch, multiple multiplatform titles — including some with commercial agreements involving Microsoft — are delivering mixed results. In several cases the PS5 outperformed the Xbox Series X in specific technical areas, even though the Xbox’s raw specifications appear stronger on paper.
Where PS5 has outpaced Xbox Series X in tests
Digital Foundry, which conducts in-depth technical analyses of game performance, found instances where the PS5 exceeded the Xbox Series X on titles such as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, DiRT 5, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Devil May Cry 5.
The shortcomings on Xbox vary by game. In Devil May Cry 5 testers observed a stronger frame-rate performance on PS5, with the Series X experiencing sharper drops. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla reportedly saw the Xbox dip below 60 frames per second at times and showed occasional screen tearing. DiRT 5 displayed quality differences in texture detail favoring the PS5 — an issue Codemasters has acknowledged and said it will address with a patch. In Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the PS5 demonstrated an advantage in the 120 fps mode.
Why raw hardware numbers aren’t the whole story
These varied results suggest the issue is not a single systemic hardware failure on Xbox but differences in how each game is implemented and optimized for each platform. The pattern — distinct areas of advantage for PS5 across different titles — points toward developer adaptation rather than a uniform platform limitation.
Developer access and time to optimize
The Verge, reporting conversations with unnamed developers, indicates a likely root cause: a shortage of time. According to those developers, Microsoft delivered development kits later than usual, leaving less time for studios to polish and fully optimize games for the Series X prior to launch.
When developers have limited time with final hardware and tools, optimizations that exploit specific console features or smooth out performance issues may not be completed. That dynamic can produce the kind of title-by-title discrepancies seen so far, rather than a consistent performance gap attributable solely to hardware specifications.
Outlook: patches and future updates
The expectation expressed by the reporting is that, with more time and subsequent updates, multiplatform games on Xbox could better leverage the Series X hardware and potentially deliver clearer advantages over the PS5. For now, however, the consoles appear closely matched in many real-world scenarios.
Microsoft’s timing and RDNA2 support
The Verge’s account suggests Microsoft delayed finalizing the Series X hardware until late in development to ensure full support for AMD’s RDNA2 architecture. Microsoft aimed to incorporate the latest AMD features into the console design, but it remains unclear which concrete advantages RDNA2 will bring in practice or how that will influence the consoles’ competition as the generation progresses.
