The Xbox Series S has been a bit of a controversial topic since its inception. Designed for maximum affordability, the $300 RRP "next-gen" Xbox console has often been blamed for various things. Even I have speculated that some games might have skipped the Xbox platform entirely owing to developers building games for the PS5 first and then not wanting (or affording) to optimize the game for the weaker Xbox Series S. Others have suggested the Xbox Series S is "holding gaming back" by forcing developers to account for its system requirements. For sure, there have been plenty of headlines over the past three years borne of developers commenting on the difficulty of working with the system.
It all came to a head this past summer when Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios candidly noted that it was having trouble porting the game to Xbox Series X|S. Larian couldn't reconcile Baldur's Gate 3's couch co-op, Microsoft's feature parity clause, and the Xbox Series S spec sheet. The episode led to a rightful correcting of Xbox policies, allowing for developers to be a little more flexible with how they optimize and target the Xbox Series S. Still, it was a sore point for Xbox fans initially. It seemed customers were destined to miss out on yet another game that could've easily counted itself among the best Xbox games of 2023.
