Xbox Series S is More of a Support Console

We’re a little over two years into the current generation of consoles now, but it feels like we’re only just beginning to scratch the surface. Developers and publishers are only now entering the stage where they begin dropping cross-gen releases and instead make games built specifically for current-gen hardware, which means there are still several questions that we have about this current crop of consoles that we’ve had since they first launched at the tail end of 2020.

For instance, is the Xbox Series S, thanks to its weaker hardware compared to the Xbox Series X and PS5, going to become an issue down the line? While we’re obviously going to have to wait for a concrete answer on that front, Jose Carlos Montero – CEO of Red Hook Games, the studio behind Journey to the West-inspired action-adventure title The Crown of Wu – feels that it certainly falls below its more powerful current-gen counterparts where the current generation’s hierarchy is concerned.

Speaking in a recent interview with GamingBolt, Montero said that personally, he sees the Xbox Series S as more of a support console, especially with Game Pass becoming more of a driving force for Microsoft, and added that he believes the console will find it hard to maintain 1440p/60 FPS for the more demanding games throughout the course of the generation- which is what Microsoft promised back when it was first unveiled.

“It’s going to be hard to hold 1440p/60 FPS for the most demanding games of the generation,” Montero said. “As much as Xbox wants to sell it this way I don’t think the average consumer will want to buy a Series S and establish it as their console for the whole generation. Personally I see it more as a support console, for example in our case at home we have a PS5 and a Series S that we use to play Xbox exclusive games or just to enjoy the wonderful Game Pass system. If we want to enjoy more resolution/quality we play on PS5 or PC directly.”

Opinion has certainly been split on Xbox Series S ever since the console launched a little over a couple of years ago. There have been several developers who have publicly spoken out about how the console’s lower specs as compared to the Xbox Series X and PS5 could hold back development, especially in the long run, but at the same time, other studios have posited the opposite opinion.

Microsoft, as you might expect, has staunchly defended the console. In the lead-up to its launch in 2020, for instance, Xbox system architect Andrew Goossen said that the Xbox Series S wouldn’t hold back the new generation of consoles, but would instead actually help advance it. What end of the spectrum of that argument the industry at large will end up falling on should be interesting to see, especially as we get deeper into this generation of consoles, and games get progressively more demanding on hardware.

Meanwhile, Red Mountain Studio’s The Crown of Wu is out today for PS5, PS4, and PC, while Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One versions are also currently in development.