Xbox Series S is a “Nice Option” for Customers, but Can be a “Bottleneck” for Devs – Trine 5 Developer

Whether or not the Xbox Series S’ relatively less powerful hardware compared to other current-gen consoles will become a problem for developers as time goes on has been a point of discussion since the day Microsoft first unveiled it, and though there’s no denying the advantages it presents, especially from a consumer’s perspective, it’s also become apparent by now that the Series S does pose some limitations that can potentially lead to development issues.

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy developer Frozenbyte seems to agree with that general notion. In a recent interview with GamingBolt, when asked about the Xbox Series S and whether its hardware will be able to keep pace with its peers as the generation goes on, Frozenbyte marketing manager Kai Tuovinen said that while the console is certainly a great option to have for those looking to purchase cheaper hardware, from a development perspective, it can potentially become a “bottleneck”, especially for the more technically demanding games.

“More powerful hardware is always better from a developer perspective,” Touvinen said. “I think for more graphically intensive games the Series S can become a bottleneck as supporting it is required. From a player perspective I guess it’s a nice option to have a more affordable console though.”

Of course, this isn’t just a hypothetical at this point. Larian Studios has been facing technical difficulties with getting Baldur’s Gate 3’s splitscreen co-op running properly on the Xbox Series S, resulting in a delayed Xbox launch for the highly anticipated RPG. Last year, Techland also talked about how the console’s GPU was holding development back.

During our interview, Touvinen also revealed to GamingBolt that Trine 5 will run at 4K/60 FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series X and at 1440p/60 FPS on Xbox Series S. Touvinen also confirmed that the game will be “at least” 12 hours long.

Earlier this year, Frozenbyte also talked about Game Pass, and how it “contributes to oversaturation of content” in spite of being “an interesting program to reach more gamers at scale.” Read more on that through here.

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is set to launch this summer for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.