Yet another developer has highlighted Xbox Series S optimization issues, citing them as the reason their game is going to PC before consoles. Devs are becoming increasingly vocal about the challenges posed by the Series S, exasperated by Microsoft‘s parity requirement. This time, it’s Dune: Awakening studio Funcom shedding light on the issue.
As more and more devs bring up Xbox Series S optimization issues, Microsoft should respond
Funcom chief product officer Scott Junior told VG247 that Xbox Series S poses a “challenge.” “It’s one of the reasons we’re coming out on PC first,” he revealed. “There’s a lot of optimizations we need to do before we release on the Xbox. But yeah, Xbox Series S is a challenge.”
In the past, developers reluctantly spoke out against Microsoft’s parity requirement, partially due to fear of backlash, but they’ve become increasingly vocal now. Part of the reason, presumably, is that at this point in the current gen’s life cycle, games are becoming far too demanding and game development itself is becoming too strenuous and expensive. Studios are having to spend precious time and resources on optimizing for inferior hardware, and some are choosing to skip Xbox either temporarily or altogether.
Xbox has plenty of fans to defend the Series S on social media, but that’s not the answer. Microsoft needs to address this, drop its simultaneous release requirements, and quit holding things back.