Hazelight Studios chief Josef Fares – who directed Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and A Way Out and is working on the upcoming It Takes Two next – has been a refreshingly outspoken and emphatic personality for as long as he’s been in the industry (his expletive-filled Oscar rant at 2018’s The Game Awards still lives on in memory), and he has a lot to say about the much-maligned naming scheme of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Speaking to IGN, Fares criticized Microsoft’s names for its new consoles, echoing the popular opinion that they’re confusing names, and holding nothing back with his criticisms for the same.
“That’s a ****ing confusing name,” Fares said. “What the ****’s going on with Microsoft? They’re losing it, man. What the **** is going on? Like Series S, X, Mex, Next. I mean, who knows this? Come on. Madness. Call it the Microsoft Box and that’s it. I don’t know. It’s a total ****ing mess. Trust me, even them, they’re confused in their offices. What is this X, S… I don’t know, what the ****.”
Core audiences might not agree that the Xbox Series X and S have confusing names, but it’s worth considering that the bulk of the consoles’ prospective purchasers wouldn’t fall in that core category. More casual buyers would be confused by how similar the two’s names are to each other, and doubly confused because of their similarities to the Xbox One S and Xbox One X. Hell, even Microsoft have misnamed their consoles on a few occasions in online updates and tweets. As Fares suggests, perhaps they’re confused about the names as well.
Hazelight’s co-op focused It Takes Two launches on March 26. It will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
