Xbox asked to drop Series S support by multiple studios, says developer

There’s no denying that gaming is an expensive hobby. At £249, the Xbox Series S is one of the most accessible consoles on the market - and even so, it’s certainly not a cheap purchase. Regardless though, the digital-only console has proved popular with Xbox fans yet with game developers? Not so much.

I’m sure you’ve stumbled across this week’s Gotham Knights frame rate debate. It was revealed by one developer that Gotham Knights only runs at 30fps, whereas a lot of contemporary releases offer a 60fps performance mode. In our review, GAMINGbible’s James noted that “playing the game at 30fps had no drawbacks,” but if this is something that bothers you, the problem could be rooted in the requirement to cater to the Xbox Series S console.

Speaking of Gotham Knights, check out our video review below.

Bossa Studios VFX artist Ian Maclure has revealed (Via PSU) that Microsoft currently mandates Xbox Series S compatibility but according to Maclure, this is hindering game development. In a series of private tweets, Maclure wrote, “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.”

He continued, “Studios have been through one development cycle where Series S turned out to be an albatross around the neck of production, and now that games are firmly being developed with new consoles in mind, teams do not want to repeat the process.”

As PSU points out, Gotham Knights senior character technical artist Lee Devonald previously tweeted, “I wish gamers understood what 60fps means, in terms of all of the things they lose to make the game run that fast. Especially taking into account that we have a current-gen console that’s not much better than a last-gen one.” It’s assumed that Devonald is referring to the Series S. It’s a tricky situation. There’s clear frustration from developers about the Series S’ limitations yet Microsoft aren’t going to abandon a large part of their playerbase.