Didn't really think of it that way, kinda feel like an ass now lol. But you have to admit that some of the limits on that engine such as physics tied to FPS etc shouldn't be a problem in 2015/16 (Not sure if it is the same as FO4 but I know that was the case in Skyrim). I've got no idea how much goes into actually making the engine, but with the new tech out these days most people expect to be able to utilize it, such as 144hz screens etc.
So, when you said about most companies just rebranding per say, is that what DICE/EA have been doing over the past 5 years with their Frostbite engines? I've always thought that they crazy for making a 'new' engine for each iteration of their games.
I hope I didn't sound too mean
In the past, Japanese companies would actually start from scratch every time - I think a lot of the Final Fantasy games did that. In reality while being great for innovation it is a huge risk.
For new tech, yes, I do agree that there should be better support - escpecially if a company wants to have a competitive edge on PC. The reality is that only ~1% of users will be able to take advantage of the features so the return on investment is extremely low. e.g. adding good VR support to an existing 'AAA' game could take a small team a few months at the very least. Those people need to paid a salary so the cost needs to be justified.
Physics tied to FPS isn't a 'problem' to the developers. It's just something that isn't worth supporting. There is very little return on investment for the time that will be needed to restructure the core of the engine. I guarantee that the decision to tie the physics and FPS was made by people who knew the consequences.
144hz screens is a bit different. They can only be truly utilised by games that run at incredibly high frame rates. A game like Fallout 4 wouldn't even benefit from the feature and the would require the game to run at a base FPS that is at least 4 times faster. That is pretty much impossible without cutting features such as draw distance, texture quality, AI, etc.
I totally get the logic you take with your points
Being on the inside I just know a bit more about how it works. There are still LOTS of examples of where developers are just plain lazy and try and get away with releasing crap (*cough* my company *cough*) and it is not acceptable!
