Skyrim Special Edition runs at native 4K on the PS4 Pro, and as you can see by the screenshot above, it’s pretty darn gorgeous. That said, the 3840×2160 resolution does come with some unfortunate side effects. The game actually runs slightly worse on the PS4 Pro than on a standard PlayStation 4. Scenes with plenty of graphical effects tend to see a frame-rate drop of 2-3 frames. It mostly is able to hit the 30 frames-per-second target, but that drop is rather unfortunate.
Here’s a small snippet of what Digital Foundry had to say about the performance (make sure to check out their full findings as it’s an excellent analysis):
As such, the experience doesn’t feel quite as smooth when running at 4K, with more substantial hitches when moving through detailed environments. It’s not a deal-breaker and by and large, the 30fps performance target is met. However, the drop in frame-rates does feel like step down from the more consistent 30fps update present across the standard PS4 and Xbox One consoles running the game, and that’s a shame as the jump to 4K really does provide a tangible upgrade in visual quality in other areas.
Skyrim is far from the only PS4 Pro supported game that has launched with some issues, though. It seems pretty clear at this point that the enhanced console came in a little hot and that developers weren’t fully prepared or able to allocate a ton of resources to it as it’s not a top priority. Hopefully Skyrim PS4 Pro will get fixed in an upcoming patch (and they have confirmed that they are working on stability fixes), but I’m pretty sure anyone who has played a Bethesda title is used to sub-optimal performance by now.
(Source: Digital Foundry)
