Xbox Series S limitations come under scrutiny following significant release delay
Developers have for some time voiced concerns over Xbox Series S’ technical limitations; and its recent debacle with Baldur’s Gate 3 only reignite that argument further.
Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios’ massive new RPG, has made its way onto PC and PlayStation 5, with PlayStation 5 owners receiving it on September 6. Unfortunately for Xbox users though, its arrival has been put back due to technical limitations with Series S console. “Split-screen functionality on Series S requires additional testing; work on this is ongoing but we believe progress has been made,” stated Michael Douse of Larian Studios as their Director of Publishing stating this was one of their major technical hurdles that prevented release on their ecosystem – something they were unable to release without this feature being present preventing release on Xbox.
“Far from being exclusive, we do not have an exclusivity agreement that prevents us from launching on Xbox. Instead, our only technical obstacle lies within splitting screen feature parity requirements: therefore we continue to attempt a solution through numerous engineers working tirelessly on making Series S seamless drop-in/drop-out co-op play.” Hopefully by year’s end there should be an update.
Remedy Communications Director Thomas Puha recently confirmed Douse’s remarks via tweet: he stated “I empathize with Larian on Series S; optimizing at the end is no way a realistic option; instead you must consider technical constraints from day one in game development – nobody likes having to think this through!”
The Series S console is certainly appealing from a consumer point of view; as one of the more affordable consoles on sale today. Unfortunately, however, as evidenced herein shows it pushes against what constitutes next-gen functionality – though in an undesirable manner.
