It's so far been unclear what resolution and frame rate The Witcher 3 will boast on consoles, and developers CD Projekt Red have explained this is because nothing is yet set in stone.
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Speaking to Gamespot, a member of the studio stated that the team has not announced definitive details about whether or not the game will run in 1080p on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One because the work is not yet finished. The team is constantly working on optimization for the game, but the developers are not yet sure where the final product will land.
As [The Witcher 3 visual effects artist Jose Teixeira] said, we are working hard on optimizing the game and nothing is set in stone," Marketing Manager Tomasz Tinc explained. "Our engine team remains optimistic and we will surely squeeze the most we can out of each console. I know you might be expecting concrete info like the final frame rate and resolution, but it's simply impossible to give you that sort of thing before the optimization process is complete."
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While it's possible the game ends up running in 1080p at a high, steady frame rate--features very important to some fans--it doesn't necessarily look too promising. If the current situation was leaning in that direction, the comments from the developers would likely say something more definitive. Instead, we're left with what the team told Gamespot at Gamescom this past week.
"I don't know if it's going to make it," Teixeira said when asked about the game reaching full HD. "To be honest, I really don't know. Probably not." Gamespot does go on to state that Teixeira said The Witcher 3 should run at 30fps at least, however.
Past reports have suggested 900p or 720p versions of the game on PS4 an Xbox One respectively, and this may be closer to what we'll see given these new comments. Developers have struggled to get many multiplatform games running in full HD (much to the dismay of many owners, who assumed that to be a minimum expectation of new consoles), with the Xbox One in particular not up to the task. Hopefully this becomes less of an issue over the lifetime of these consoles--developers normally become more familiar with the hardware over time, and are able to push the system further than at launch.
As for the Witcher 3, there is time to reserve judgments for an official announcement on frame rate and resolution. But as things stand, don't be surprised if the developers cannot achieve fluid 1080p--or if the two consoles offer different resolutions.