A Way Out creator compares consoles to old PCs, says most of the work is getting games to run on them

A Way Out was one of the most pleasant surprises of E3 2017 - a completely co-op game about prison inmates with the cinematic stylings of Uncharted made by the creator of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - what's not to like? And it looks fabulous too. But according to director Josef Fares, the development process has not been what it could be.

"You want the honest truth? This machine is not so strong as you think," Fares told Engadget, pointing to a PS4 running the game. "This is like a five-year-old PC. If consoles were as powerful as PCs are today, you would see all different games. Most of the work developers put out there is to make them work on consoles."

Considering the fact that the PS4 and Xbox One are almost four years old at this point, that's not a huge knock against Sony and Microsoft's systems, but Fares' point stands: technology is advancing rapidly, and while consoles are easier and cheaper than keeping a PC up to date with the latest hardware, they also have a tendency to fall behind.

Still, Fares said that doesn't hold him or his team back. And it's not like Fares is basing his designs around the processing speeds of a GPU. "All decisions that are made on A Way Out are based on the heart," Fares said. "Even if someone tells me, like, 'If you do this you will sell 1 million copies more,' my answer is 'Fuck you.' Look at me, I don't have scripts and nobody tells me what to say. I say what I want to say. Passion is what drives this."

Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.

Latest in Adventure
The player character in Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks at the three starter Pokemon, Totodile, Tepig, and Chikorita.
You can let fate decide your Pokemon Legends Z-A starter with a random plushie pre-order bonus, just in case you couldn't pick between Totodile, Tepig, and Chikorita
Key art for Pokemon Champions
Pokemon Champions could be the series' "biggest announcement in over a decade," says former world champ, because Nintendo might finally be about to separate competitive play from single-player
Pokemon Legends Z-A screenshot
Lumiose City is going through an "urban redevelopment plan" in Pokemon Legends Z-A, and I bet it has something to do with the 1100lbs battles on its rooftops
prisim tower standing tall and proud in the center of lumiose city
In classic Nintendo fashion, the latest Pokemon Legends Z-A reveal left out the best part: the Lumiose City map looks great after a massive overhaul in the 12 years since X and Y
Pokemon Champions
Former Pokemon World Champion says new game is about to turn the competitive scene upside-down, with changes so big he "can't even fathom" them
the female protagonist in pokemon legends z-a standing in a city street. she's wearing wide-legged pants, a series first
Pokemon Legends: Z-A breaks a 24-year fashion tradition, giving its female protagonist pants for the first time in the series' history
Latest in News
Dragon Age Inquisition
Dragon Age actor says the last time he played Inquisition, he upheld the RPG tradition led by Baldur's Gate 3 actors and romanced his own character: "Which is the best — the best"
Monster Hunter Wilds
Capcom promises "this is just the start for the next generation of Monster Hunter" as Wilds shatters sales milestones: "The Guild authorizes this celebration!"
Lester sitting at a computer in some artwork for GTA Online
Some GTA 5 players can't bring their characters to the new PC upgrade, and the open-world game's mixed Steam reviews are hammering FPS caps and a lack of text chat
Kamala Khan holds Jean Grey's body in an homage to the cover of Uncanny X-Men #136
45 years after the original Dark Phoenix Saga, Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan will travel back in time to save X-Men history
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Assassin's Creed Shadows is the first game in the series with "a fully customizable sandbox" as your base, which is where Yasuke and Naoe hang out and pet baby animals
Monster Hunter Wilds screenshot of spider boss Nerscylla
Monster Hunter Wilds takes an infamously rare and annoying material from the old games and absolutely buries you in it – and also buries you in tiny spiders