The younger sibling in the Xbox Series family, the Xbox Series S, often faces criticism for not being ‘current-gen’ enough compared to its counterparts, the Series X and PlayStation 5. In fact, developers often take more time with their projects (facing difficulties) to make sure that the little console is able to run games, despite the lower fidelity and framerate caps.
Upcoming future projects (such as Grand Theft Auto 6) are going to test modern consoles’ potential, and that’s where Xbox Series S raises doubts. Is the console a necessity for developers or just another hurdle in the way of a game maker’s journey?
Developers Have Admitted How Troublesome It Is to Design Games for the Series S
Recently, the makers of Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios, made the arrival of the game official on Xbox consoles (along with a physical version of the game). The massive title will finally find a home in the Xbox community, but this was a long-drawn-out battle of bugs, optimizations, and tweaking.
When optimizing the game for the Xbox Series S, the team faced major issues regarding split-screen co-op. Eventually, they had to let go of certain options in order to make sure the game ran relatively well on the console. The entire process thus got stretched out and the game took its sweet time to arrive on Xbox Series S/X.
Bummer, right? This sentiment was shared by fellow game dev teams, with Remedy Entertainment voicing out its opinions too. Earlier in August this year, the communications director from the team spoke about why Series S can pose a problem to large development projects.
I feel Larian's pain on Series S. Its not about "just optimize at the end" LOL. Naaah. You have to take into account the technical limitations from the beginning of development. Nobody really wants to think of that when you start making your game, when everything is possible
— Thomas Puha (@RiotRMD) August 2, 2023
The concern grows deeper as we realize how games like Grand Theft Auto 6 might challenge this even further. Given Rockstar’s reputation with their triple-A releases, every major game that arrives on the console is a remarkable showcase of what the machine is capable of. Grand Theft Auto V did it with the PS3/Xbox 360 era, Red Dead Redemption 2 did it with Xbox One/PlayStation 4. And now, players are expecting GTA 6 to have that graphical overhaul; a leap between the last two big titles to show off the capabilities of the PlayStation 6 and Xbox Series X.
In this scenario, the Xbox Series S will undoubtedly suffer. The smaller and less powerful console will run the game on a lower resolution, with framerates that are locked at 30 and there’s little chance a ‘performance mode’ will truly do wonders for the game. This inherently hurts the game’s true nature and what the dev team wants to bring out.
The Relevance of Xbox Series S and Why It Matters to Xbox
To understand the relevance of the tiny beast, it’s important to understand the design philosophy behind Microsoft’s decision to even bring out the Xbox Series S. The console was designed from scratch to be an affordable version of its more powerful counterpart, the Xbox Series X.
The selling point here was that despite being smaller, the Series S would run all modern and upcoming games with optimized fidelity. Add to that the joys of Xbox Game Pass, and you have a budget-friendly entry into the modern gaming era.
Regardless of the Xbox Series S promising so much more, the ongoing controversy surrounding development timeframes and lowered quality of games stays sharp. In the context of this, Xbox put out a blunt statement. In an interview with Axios, Matt Booty (head of Xbox Game Studios) defensively stated how devs should improve their planning with games:
Is it more work? Sure. They can plan better, knowing where some of the sharp corners are.
The article also focuses on a shift in philosophy at Microsoft regarding development times. Matt goes on to explain how the development cycles simply aren’t 2-3 years anymore, they can be as long as 4-5 or even 6 years. This is because of higher expectations and the increased complexity of modern video games that wish to reach peak graphics and advanced lighting.
Whether or not creators prefer to stretch their development cycles in order to fit Xbox Series S’ needs, it’s unlikely that Xbox will ever back out from their strong vision regarding the console’s future. A budget-friendly option for gamers isn’t the show-off future games are likely to make peace with, but it is an added (and much-needed) hurdle that makes gaming accessible to a larger audience of gamers worldwide.
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