Dark Souls 3 now runs at 60fps on Xbox Series X/S thanks to FPS Boost

Dark Souls 3 has just received a new lease of life on Xbox Series consoles, thanks to the transformative powers of FPS Boost. The From Software classic now targets 60 frames per second on the new wave of Microsoft consoles, replacing the somewhat wobbly 30fps of the Xbox One rendition of the game. We had early access to the FPS Boosted rendition of the game and it certainly does the job, delivering nigh-on flawless performance on Xbox Series consoles.

This is a much-requested upgrade for Xbox Series X and S owners, bringing the game closer into line with its performance profile on PS5. Dark Souls 3 released on last-gen systems in 2016 with a firm 30fps cap, but many months later, a PlayStation 4 Pro patch removed the limit, offering frame-rates up to 60fps. Unfortunately, the value of the upgrade was questionable at the time, owing to a highly variable level of performance on Sony’s enhanced machine. However, in the long run, it worked out – PlayStation 5’s backwards compatibility horsepower locks the game to 1080p60.

Unfortunately, From Software never went back to the Xbox One version of Dark Souls 3 to add One X support, meaning that 900p30 has been the upper limit of performance on Xbox consoles since the game’s original launch. Not only that, in common with From’s other 30fps console offerings, inconsistent frame-pacing added a certain degree of judder to the game, something baked into the engine that extra back-compat horsepower could not address. Today’s FPS Boost upgrade overrides the frame-rate cap to give Xbox Series X and S the same, smooth experience 60fps as PS5, with no judder, hitches or stuttering.

1 of 6 Caption Attribution Base Xbox One takes on the Xbox Series S. We go from a 30fps cap with uneven frame-pacing and drops to a near faultless 60fps thanks to the FPS Boost feature.

The result? From playing the opening hours of the game, it performs near-perfectly on both Xbox Series X and S. Practically every major locale, including the fire-spewing dragon on the High Walls of Lothric, is delivered at a smooth 60fps. And yes, that applies to both consoles as by and large, Xbox Series S runs identically to Series X for the vast majority of play. The only exception I could find was a single, brief drop to 53fps during an early fight with a mutating creature on the Lothric roof. Heavy alpha effects buckle Series S only momentarily, while this spot’s not an issue at all on Series X. The results are excellent all round, but Series X has a very slight edge in consistency with the fringe cases.