E3 2017: Gears of War 4 on Xbox One X will bring 4K HDR, Dolby Atmos and more

Post Microsoft's E3 announcement, Gears of War 4 developer The Coalition spoke about some of the improvements users would get to see with an upcoming update that will deliver better graphics quality to owners of the Xbox One X.While the first Xbox One X consoles will start shipping in November, Microsoft at its E3 keynote explained that several E3 titles would be receiving free 4K updates. The Coalition's technical director Mike Rayner in a community interview said that several improvements have been planned.Rayner said that The Coalition had been working with Microsoft's Xbox One X console for some time now and that the team was excited to "see it come to life as something gamers can take home this November,"."The first and probably most noticeable improvement is, of course, that we render the game at native 4K resolution. Not only does that mean a 4x increase in our native rendering resolution compared to 1080p on Xbox One, but it also means much higher resolution textures across the board – from characters to environments, visual effects, everything! Bringing that incredible level fidelity to the console for the first time, which so far has really been limited to top-spec PC rigs, has been incredibly exciting for us."

He then explained that playing Gears of War 4 in 4K HDR was big jump even for a game that was launch just last year, adding that everyone would see the difference and enjoy playing it. "One of the exclusive features for Gears of War 4 on Xbox One X is the ability to run 4K HDR with Wide Color Gamut Support. We supported HDR on the Xbox One S, and 4K on PC, but this is the first time you can play Gears of War 4 with a combination of that incredible 4K fidelity and the vibrant contrast of HDR. It’s really something else."Rayner said that the team has worked on bringing a number of additional technical improvements that they really bring GOW world to life more than ever before. These however will remain exclusive to the upcoming Xbox One X.There are now fully dynamic shadows, "if a tree is blowing in the wind, on the ground you’ll see that shadow of that tree dynamically move as you’d expect it to. We’ve also enhanced the detail in these shadows so they’ll look crisper and more detailed. The new Shadow improvements really add a lot to the feel of our environments." said Rayner.He also commented that support for Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 audio makes a bg difference as it "adds extra channels that are used for ambient audio experiences, adding environmental noises that encapsulate you as if you were right in the midst of the action."There was another interesting take from this interaction. Upon being quizzed on whether a 4K TV was a must for a better experience, Rayner said that users would "still get all the benefits of our Xbox One X update that really elevates the visuals of the game – that means the higher resolution textures, the fully dynamic shadows, improved reflections and so on are all there even if you’re outputting to a 1080p TV."