Version 1.01 of Mafia III on PC is live, freeing players of the pesky 30 fps frame rate cap. Players may now toggle between caps of 30 and 60, or turn the frame rate limit off entirely.
The frame rate cap was a cause of frustration from PC owners who have come to expect a certain amount of configurability. With the powerful hardware available to PC owners, it’s understandable that many were frustrated by the game’s initial limitations. However, players should be advised that current benchmarks indicate that top of the line hardware will be necessary for players to approach 60 fps.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that such options will make their way to console versions of the game. While Hangar 13 creative director Haden Blackman recently confirmed in an interview with Gadgets 360 that the game will support the upcoming PS4 Pro with “some graphics upgrades,” no mention of frame rate was made. Though the PS4 Pro features a respectable performance bump over the standard and slim versions of the system, the open world game’s hardware demands suggest that the game would require significant optimization to reach 60 fps.
Mafia III launched October 7. Early impressions have been mixed, though it’s worth keeping in mind that copies were not sent to critics prior to the game’s release, so many outlets have yet to publish substantive reviews.