Insomniac Unveils Marvel's Wolverine Performance Mode: 60 FPS with Ray Tracing on Base PS5

Insomniac Games has confirmed that Marvel's Wolverine will feature a performance mode running at 60 frames per second with ray tracing on the base PlayStation 5, marking a first for the studio.

In an interview with IGN, the Sony-owned developer revealed that this performance mode is the default for the game on PS5. Senior project director Jess Reiner-Reed stated, "From early on in development, we knew we wanted to make this 60 FPS, working on the base PS5 in performance mode. And we've definitely been able to accomplish that. The game feels super smooth."

Mike Fitzgerald, head of technology at Insomniac, added, "We've always had these fidelity and performance modes, and then we always sort of last minute get the performance mode with ray tracing and like, 'But this is pretty good...' And so for this game from the start, we said, 'You know what? We know we're confident we can ship this now. This is going to be a 60 frames per second game with ray tracing as the PS5 should have. We're going to build the game around this and towards this.' And it's the default mode for the first time for us in one of our games. It's important for the presentation."

This news is likely to please players, especially given the combat-heavy nature of Marvel's Wolverine. The responsiveness of 60 FPS will be crucial for executing combos and taking down enemies effectively.

Insomniac also discussed the graphical challenges of Marvel's Wolverine, which differs from their Spider-Man series. Fitzgerald explained, "Spider-Man's a very urban city based title. We invest a lot in technology to represent that. And then Marvel's Wolverine takes us outside the city. We spend some time in the wilderness of Canada, in a different nature of city in Madripoor. So we invested in a lot of tech around foliage and the jungles that you start the game in. All that foliage is very reactive to wind and characters and the environment going on around it."

He continued, "Logan's a really destructive character. The aftermath after you fight a big battle, we wanted to make sure you didn't feel like you were defeating a bunch of The Hand and then walking out of this pristine market that you happened to be in. So most of the props in the game are destructible, react in physically accurate ways. We invested a ton in that technology. So market stalls and tables and everything around you is splintering and flying off as you're doing combat."

For more details, check out our full interview with Insomniac and our hands-on preview of Marvel's Wolverine, launching in September.