The folks over at Digital Foundry cite "current PlayStation 4 documentation shown to Digital Foundry by a well-placed development source" in detailing the RAM breakdown. The numbers aren't set in stone, though. Digital Foundry reports that developers can take back as much as 1GB of "flexible memory" from the OS when it's available. However, taking back this memory isn't as simple as flipping a switch; it's complicated enough that only first-party games may be able to do it at first, according to the report.
In Sony's case, at least, there's some hope that this allocation could change in the future, with "sources close to Sony" suggesting the OS could take up less RAM with future streamlining updates. On the Xbox One, on the other hand, Microsoft has reportedly carved out 3GB as a strict, inflexible OS allocation "in order to allow the background platform to evolve over a ten-year life-cycle." In other words, Microsoft is basically saying, "Sorry, Xbox One game developers. You can't use that RAM because we might need it for something later."
Reply With Quote