007 First Light: Series X 60fps, Series S 30fps

007 First Light launched this week with different frame-rate options across Xbox consoles. Xbox Series X players can choose a 60fps performance mode or a 30fps fidelity mode. The Xbox Series S version targets 30fps only.

Developer IO Interactive set the Series S target after early console footage ran below 30fps. The studio prioritized keeping advanced visual systems such as lighting and volumetrics rather than removing them to reach 60fps on the lower-spec console. The lead render engineer described that approach as a “scalability-first” philosophy: effects are scaled down in quality on weaker hardware instead of being eliminated.

The decision reflects hardware limits on Series S, including constrained memory and GPU headroom that made a reduced-feature 60fps mode impractical. IO Interactive said the same scaling approach will apply to low-end PC configurations and an upcoming Switch 2 release, so high-end effects remain present in reduced form on those platforms.

Achieving 60fps on current-generation consoles required engine work. IO upgraded its Glacier Engine to use asynchronous compute more aggressively to keep the GPU busy. The team added a frame graph system to manage resource dependencies and schedule rendering passes more efficiently. CPU-side optimizations moved physics simulations, artificial intelligence and animation off the main thread and onto parallel worker threads to reduce bottlenecks.

The game uses software-based ray tracing alongside new lighting techniques and volumetric effects. Under the studio’s scaling model, those systems are reduced in fidelity on weaker hardware rather than turned off, a trade-off that preserves visual features while limiting frame-rate options on Series S.

Players on Series X can opt for smoother 60fps gameplay or a mode that favors consistent 30fps visuals. Series S users will run the single 30fps target due to the constraints encountered during development and the developer’s decision to retain visual systems where possible.