The first game that will be benefiting from the Xbox Play Anywhere program of Microsoft is brutal third-person shooter Gears of War 4. The title will not be similar for the Xbox One and Windows 10 though, with certain features only accessible through the PC.
Xbox Play Anywhere, which was unveiled by Microsoft at this year's E3, will launch on Sept. 13. Through the program, gamers can play titles on both the Xbox One and Windows 10 PC with just one digital copy, with the save files and achievements synced automatically between the two platforms.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Mike Rayner, the technical director of Gears of War 4 developer The Coalition, revealed that the game will not be the same for the Xbox One and PC, as gamers who play the title on Windows 10 will be gaining access to features exclusive for the platform.
"Our focus on PC is to deliver a highly optimized, customizable experience first and foremost," Rayner said, adding that with v-sync tearing recently coming to the Universal Windows Platform, unlocked frame rate support will be available for Gears of War 4 for the PC.
Gears of War 4 will be able to take better advantage of multi-core CPUs, which will allow GPUs to provide enhanced video quality and higher frame rates, with the single player mode not to be locked at 30 frames per second for the PC.
The PC version will have dynamic resolution support, including ultra-wide monitors, increased texture resolution of up to 4K for some texture groups, a benchmarking mode that will give gamers information on the hardware upgrades they make, full input remapping for the keyboard and mouse, and many more comprehensive settings for video.
There are currently 28 video settings, with plans to add more to give players even more control over the game's visuals. Gears of War 4 for the PC will also support super-sampling, with a system developed for the game using the Xbox One's dynamic scaling to display super crisp images while outside of combat and in high-volume cut scenes.
With these PC-only features, Gears of War 4 would feel like it is a title native to Windows 10, despite it likely being the chase Xbox One title for this year.
Microsoft revealed the first list of games included in the Play Anywhere program in June. In addition to Gears of War 4, some of the other titles that are included are Forza Horizon 3, ReCore, Halo Wars 2 and Ark: Survival Evolved.
