The Xbox Series S, designed as a more affordable option in Microsoft’s latest console generation, has been a point of contention for many developers. The ongoing debate surrounding the Xbox Series S continues as developers express concerns over the difficulties of optimizing games for the less powerful console.
Recently, Funcom’s Chief Product Officer, Scott Junior, discussed these challenges in relation to their upcoming MMO, Dune Awakening. During Gamescom 2024, Junior revealed that one of the reasons the game is launching on PC before consoles is the significant optimization required to ensure it runs smoothly on the Xbox Series S.
The console’s limited hardware capabilities, including its 4 TFLOPS of computing power compared to the Series X’s 12.16 TFLOPS, make it challenging to deliver the same level of performance and visual fidelity.
Unreal does a lot of the work for us in some ways. What we’re more doing is optimisation of assets, and using various technologies, be it FSR or something else, to replicate frames. We want the game to look stunning on high-end, whether you have a 3070 or a 4090, but we also want it to look good… I don’t think we’ve released our min-spec yet, but you know, powerful cards from a few years ago should be able to run the game. It should look good – it won’t be able to leverage the ultra-spec options, but it’ll still look nice.
Scott Junior, Funcom’s Chief Product Officer
This challenge isn’t unique to Funcom. Other developers have faced similar issues with the Series S. According to an interview by WCCFTech with the development team of STALKER 2, it was revealed also struggled to optimize their game for the console, achieving only 35 FPS, though they are working with Microsoft to improve this before the game’s November release.
Despite the hurdles, Funcom remains committed to delivering a visually stunning experience for Dune Awakening on high-end PCs, while ensuring it runs well on older hardware. However, the ongoing difficulties with the Xbox Series S suggest that this will continue to be a challenge for developers throughout this console generation.
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This scenario brings out the broader industry debate on whether the compromises required to support the Series S are worth it, particularly as more demanding games continue to push the limits of their hardware.