Xbox Series S Won’t Miss Out On New Releases Amid Hardware Integrity Brought Into Question, Phil Spencer Says

While most of the talking points to purchase a next-generation console is on the topic of power, prowess, and offering experiences alien to older hardware, Xbox is shaking the cage with Xbox Series X|S. In that, there are two SKUs: the power-backed Xbox Series X & the entry-friendly Xbox Series S. One is intended for the hardened consumer whilst the latter appeals to casual users for Xbox Game Pass and digital entertainment.

But as a whole, the approach does bring concerns as to whether it is in the betterment of games for something like the Xbox Series S. Yes, it is the more popular of the two – selling more in ‘key markets’ as reported previously. But, many are concerned the hardware is limiting game studios. At launch, Remedy Entertainment became vocal on the restrictions working on such a machine does for games.

And currently, the same is now said for new releases on the way. In that, Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 has pushed its Xbox release due to split-screen troubles. The team & Microsoft agreed to sever the feature on Xbox Series S ultimately. As for other concerns, Forza Motorsport – a first-party release – is also skipping on split-screen, a hallmark feature for the series.

When speaking to Eurogamer, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer explained that the Xbox Series S is to stay and does not plan to handicap one-half of its hardware to include certain features. Instead, it is understood the hardware consumers purchase is to have limitations compared to other models.

On S, specifically, we designed the box with similarities to X, and clear places where we’re targeting a different performance. And we’re taking feedback from devs including Larian, I met with them today to talk about it and I’m confident we’re going to find a good solution and we’re going to learn.

I don’t see a world where we drop S. In terms of parity, I don’t think you’ve heard from us or Larian, that this was about parity. I think that’s more that the community is talking about it. There are features that ship on X today that do not ship on S, even from our own games, like ray-tracing that works on X, it’s not on S in certain games. So for an S customer, they spent roughly half what the X customer bought, they understand that it’s not going to run the same way.

“Those two things aren’t really related. Forza Motorsport was never going to have splitscreen. That’s just a decision the team made based on usage. We see how many people play in splitscreen and just decided to put our dev effort where people are actually playing,” Spencer elaborated when pressed on the missing content.

“I want to make sure games are available on both, that’s our job as a platform holder and we’re committed to that with our partners. And I think we’re gonna get there with Larian. So I’m not overly worried about that, but we’ve learned some stuff through it. Having an entry level price point for console, sub-$300, is a good thing for the industry. I think it’s important, the Switch has been able to do that, in terms of kind of the traditional plug-into-my-television consoles. I think it’s important. So we’re committed.”

Atop of the current concerns brought into question, Microsoft also confirms that Xbox Series X|S hardware will not see a mid-generation refresh. Spencer elsewhere at Gamescom explained that the new Carbon Black Xbox Series S is the focus securing 1 TB drives for the system. You can read the full report by heading here.

What is your response to Spencer’s commitment to Xbox Series S?

Source: Eurogamer