The Witness shows how PS4 Pro patches should be done

Options! And benefits for both 1080p and 4K TVs

We’re starting to see patches trickle out that set games up for next week’s PlayStation 4 Pro launch. While The Witness isn’t quite ready for its 4K and high-dynamic range update, it will be one of the early games to use Sony’s higher-end console to pull off improved visuals.

Designer Jonathan Blow has walked us through the update coming to the intricate island puzzle game later this month, and the way the team is handling Pro support makes a lot of sense. They’re giving players a couple of options, which is a strategy I’d love to see other titles adopt going forward.

With a PlayStation 4 Pro outputting to a 1080p TV, “The Witness will render at 1080p, 60fps, 4x MSAA (which is substantially higher than the base PS4’s 900p, 60fps, 2x MSAA).”

With a PS4 Pro outputting to a 4K TV, you have the choice between:

1) “1440p 2x MSAA rendering of the game world, upscaled to 4k, text and UI rendered at 4k, 60fps” or
2) “4k 2x MSAA rendering for everything, 30fps.”

Again, I think this sets the bar. There’s also HDR support baked into these options, and even if you don’t have a PS4 Pro (but you do have a compatible television), you’ll be able to play in HDR mode.

PS4 Pro patch update [The Witness]