The assessment of game performance in 2025 reveals standout titles and notable disappointments in terms of graphics, stability, and scalability.
Top Performers: Graphics and Stability
In 2025, Battlefield 6 showcased remarkable optimization. Running at 100 fps at 1440p with RTX 4070 on maximum settings, it required no upscaling or frame generation. Notably, its environmental destruction scaled well across various hardware generations.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, built on CryEngine, successfully hid shader compilation during loading. It achieved 60 fps at 1080p on high settings with DLSS on an RTX 4050, emphasizing performance over raw hardware power.
Doom: The Dark Ages utilized hardware ray tracing to achieve around 64 fps at 1080p Ultra on a midrange system. With DLSS, frame rates exceeded 90 fps, though broader scalability was limited by the need for ray tracing-capable GPUs.
Poor Performers: Glitches and Demands
Monster Hunter Wilds launched with subpar performance. Often requiring FSR 3 and frame generation for acceptable frame rates, its visuals remained at times blurry, impacting overall gameplay experience.
Borderlands 4 offered high visual fidelity but ran poorly at approximately 40 fps indoors at 4K even on top-tier hardware. Performance improved only after significant developer patches.
Gears of War: Reloaded struggled with inconsistent frame times on handhelds like Asus ROG Ally, despite being a remaster. The game's heavy CPU demands led to frequent performance issues.
Insights and Future Implications
The analysis indicates that, in 2025, many games relied heavily on upscaling and frame generation to achieve smooth frame rates. While ray tracing remains a double-edged technology, games like Battlefield 6 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 suggest possible paths for future releases to balance visual fidelity with hardware scalability effectively.
