The Xbox Series S is currently being criticized for not properly supporting new-gen games.
A developer at Bossa Studios has come forward to defend his opinion that the Series S isn’t up to par when it comes to supporting new-gen games. VFX artist Ian Maclure explained in a now-private tweet why it was so frustrating to ensure I Am Fish was compatible with both PC and Xbox Series X/S.
“It might sound broken, but the reason you are hearing it a lot right now is because MANY developers have been sitting in meetings for the past year desperately trying to get Series S launch requirements dropped,” Maclure said.
He added that studios have already gone through a frustrating development cycle where the Series S “turned out to be an albatross around the neck of production.” Now that games are being developed with the new consoles in mind, he is hoping to not repeat that process.
This claim was echoed by Rocksteady’s senior character technical artist Lee Devonald. In a series of since-deleted tweets, he admitted to frustration with the Xbox Series S since there would have had to be “trade-offs” to run Gotham Knights on the console.
“I wish gamers understood what 60fps means, in terms of all of the things they lose to make the game run that fast,” the tweets read. “Especially taking into account that we have a current-gen console that’s not much better than a last gen one.”
Devonald explained that there’s an “entire generation of games” being “hamstrung by that potato,” since multi-platform games have to “optimize for the lowest performer,” the Xbox Series S—a console nowhere near as powerful as the Xbox Series X.
Due to memory and graphic constraints, the Xbox Series S has left many developers feeling frustrated. It’s been reported that multiple studios have demanded that they no longer be required to support the Xbox Series S.
Despite some developers’ complaints about the Xbox Series S, a lot of gamers have stood up for the popular console. Sitting at $300, it’s quite cheaper than the Xbox Series X, which is currently sold for $500. It also outsold the Xbox Series X in the first year it was launched. The lower specs haven’t bothered gamers all too much, and some are even blaming developers for not knowing how to create a game with the Xbox Series S’ specs and functionality in mind.
