Crytek: 8GB in Xbox One and PS4 may not be enough

Crytek states that the 8GB of RAM that can be found in the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 will eventually be insufficient to run games smoothly, despite the fact that the new consoles have significantly more RAM than their predecessors.

The Xbox One offers 8GB in the form of DDR3 memory, while the PlayStation 4 has the same amount of RAM available in the form of faster GDDR5 memory chips. The previous generation, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, had to make do with 512MB of ram. Despite the significant growth in available RAM, Sean Tracy, engine business development manager at game developer Crytek, states that 8GB will probably be insufficient for running games in the long run. He points out, among other things, the game engines that, according to Tracy, will soon need several gigabytes.

In addition to the higher demands of game engines, Tracy states that developers do not always have full access to the working memory. For example, the Xbox One reserves a part of the working memory for the operating system. Ultimately, the 8GB of RAM will form a bottleneck with both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, Tracy thinks. Crytek is known for the Crysis series but also responsible for the development of the CryEngine. In March, the company announced that it, like Epic, will rent out its engine.