The Elder Scrolls Online is a good-looking game, but playing it on console locked at 30 frames per second hurts my heart. Healing is coming, however, with the June 8 release of The Elder Scrolls Online – Console Enhanced, an upgraded version for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 that includes, among many visual improvements, a much-needed 60 frames per second mode.
Zenimax Online calls it “Performance Mode.” I call it “Yes, finally.” The most common sacrifice a PC-based MMO makes when ported to consoles is dropping the frame rate, and I hate it so much. In this Performance Mode, launching alongside game update 30 on June 8, that grave disservice is undone on the Xbox Series X, Series S, and PS5. There’s also a “Fidelity Mode,” but Zenimax doesn’t seem to be talking specifics about it at this time.
What the developer is talking about is exciting graphical enhancements like increased draw distance and reflections, improved textures, global lighting, shadows, and depth of field, and loading times roughly half as long as current console versions. Check out the changes in action in the trailer below.
They had me at 60 frames per second.
