In the build-up to the Xbox release of Baldur's Gate 3, there was a fair bit of drama surrounding the Xbox Series S version of the game. In short, Larian Studios was having trouble getting the title to perform properly on the less-powerful Xbox, and it's led to questions being asked about Microsoft's two-console approach this generation.
As a result, the folks over at Tech Radar decided to speak to some other devs about the console and their approach to working with it. Cass Carpendale — CEO of indie studio Poppy Works — and Neville Attard — founder of PolyCrunch Games — made some quite interesting comments to the outlet about working with the system during development of their upcoming title Slave Zero X.
"Multi-platform development doesn't have to be difficult,
Adding multi-platform support to a game that wasn't developed with that in mind is where the trouble comes from."
Attard added:
"If the developers always keep the slowest platform they are targeting in mind, first and foremost, then the other platforms should be easier to deal with,"
The devs then suggested that parity issues with Baldur's Gate 3 on Series S may have cropped up because the game was originally designed for PC - BG3 was in development for years as an early access PC title. Even so, they believe working with Series S is worth it for the benefit that a cheap new-gen console brings to the table.
"It's understandably frustrating if you run into issues meeting that [parity] requirement, but I think this is the kind of thing that benefits the consumers immensely, and a little bit of planning can make it a non-issue. Luckily for us, Slave Zero X runs well on all the Microsoft platforms."
Of course, these two games are very different in their makeup, but there are still some interesting points to ponder here nonetheless. If you want to check out the full feature, we recommend giving it a read for additional tidbits on the whole Xbox Series S and Baldur's Gate 3 situation.
Here at PX, we're very glad the Xbox Series S exists - paired with Xbox Game Pass it makes for an incredible value proposition to gamers. Long may it live, and long may developers keep supporting it!