The results are certainly interesting, and totally unexpected - enough for us to double-check that the day one patch is installed (it is) and to try the game on another PlayStation 4 (the results are much the same). Barring a few glitches here and there, overall image quality looks like a match between both PS4 and Xbox One. A 900p resolution is confirmed, while anti-aliasing, NPC count and other factors that may impact performance appear to be a complete match. We're especially curious to check out the PC version of the game (not in our hands yet) which may offer some more clues about Unity's overall performance profile.
In the meantime, the reasons behind the resolution parity and Xbox One's performance advantage remain something of a mystery. We know that the Microsoft hardware has more CPU time available, and that animation and AI tend to stress processor hardware heavily. The sheer volume of objects on-screen means that the CPU is working overtime in order to prepare the draw-call data for the graphics hardware. There's also the possibility that the Microsoft compiler may be producing more efficient code than its Sony equivalent, though it's hard to believe that even this combination of potential factors could explain the performance differential we see here in many places. Quite why PS4 isn't rendering at a higher resolution is certainly a bit of a puzzler - in addition to GPU resources, it is worth bearing in mind that memory could be a factor too, especially bearing in mind the complexity of Assassin's Creed Unity's next-gen renderer. Of course, the reality may be rather more mundane: we may simply be looking at a game where the developers ran out of time - there's certainly the sense that both console versions of the game aren't running at their best.
