Game Development - Best resolution for FMV game?

[creat0r]

We're developing a short full-motion video (FMV) horror game mostly for fun as hobby project. The game blends live-action footage shot on 6K cameras and 3D animated environments, look up "At Dead of Night" to get an idea of the FMV-concept. The game will be available on PC/Mac, iPadOS and iOS (Android port coming later). For the PC/Mac version we're debating if it should be rendered as 4K (3840x2160) or 2K (2560x1440). It'll be rendered at 60 FPS regardless. I'm not gonna get too deep into the weeds about the project here, I just want to get a general idea about: Would you prefer a more computational intensive 4K version with a bigger download size, or a smaller and lighter 2K version?

[da na]

Honestly I'd prefer 320x240 15FPS for authenticity! (please no)

 

Past a certain point, the change in visible pixels is so insignificant that it's not worth the filesize.

[QuantumRand]

Why not 2k and then rely on AI upscaling for those wishing to run at 4k resolutions? The majority of players opting to run at 4k likely have a pretty modern GPU with AI accelerators and upscaling capabilities.

[Eigenvektor]

Simply looking at Steam's hardware survey says ~59% of people have a 1080p monitor, ~19% have 1440p and only 3.5% have a 4K monitor. I would say that makes a smaller download size much more important than higher resolution.

 

Not sure about iOS but on Android you can upload an app with data in the appropriate quality buckets and Google will automatically distribute the most appropriate version to each user.

 

You could do something similar with a game client that downloads the most appropriate FMV based on the user's primary desktop resolution. Not only would you help people save on download size, you would save yourself the cost, in case you're self-hosting and paying for bandwidth used.