Phil Spencer was available on hand to interview at this year’s Gamescom. Among the issues broached with Phil was the matter of the Xbox Series S. To Phil’s credit, he didn’t dodge the question at all or give an evasive answer. Phil was quite clear that he’ll make sure Xbox Series S won’t be missing out on any games.
The context to this question is the ongoing issue regarding bringing the now GOTY candidate Baldur’s Gate 3 to the Xbox Series S. Just to recap, the game apparently runs just fine. But because Larian Studios needs time to implement split screen multiplayer on the Xbox Series S, Baldur’s Gate 3 has yet to release for either the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S.
Microsoft put a rule in place that ensures all games are released at the same time on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. And so, the discourse has gone around that Xbox Series S is somehow holding back games.
A relevant point of this discourse that doesn’t seem to get talked about is how Microsoft envisioned the Xbox Series S as a gateway drug of sorts into console gaming. Unlike its other contemporaries, the Xbox Series S is cheaper, uses less electricity, and is still reasonably sized. Getting an Xbox Series S and Game Pass is an easy and cheap way for a newcomer to immediately get access to current generation games.
And so, this idea that the Xbox Series S has to go because it is holding games back on a performance level, is tantamount to deciding that a segment of newer gamers who Microsoft just got hooked into consoles, can now be disposed of as an audience.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Phil said this in the matter of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Xbox Series S:
“On S, specifically, we designed the box with similarities to X, and clear places where we’re targeting a different performance. And we’re taking feedback from devs including Larian, I met with them today to talk about it and I’m confident we’re going to find a good solution and we’re going to learn.
I don’t see a world where we drop S. In terms of parity, I don’t think you’ve heard from us or Larian, that this was about parity. I think that’s more that the community is talking about it. There are features that ship on X today that do not ship on S, even from our own games, like ray-tracing that works on X, it’s not on S in certain games. So for an S customer, they spent roughly half what the X customer bought, they understand that it’s not going to run the same way.
I want to make sure games are available on both, that’s our job as a platform holder and we’re committed to that with our partners. And I think we’re gonna get there with Larian. So I’m not overly worried about that, but we’ve learned some stuff through it.
Having an entry level price point for console, sub-$300, is a good thing for the industry. I think it’s important, the Switch has been able to do that, in terms of kind of the traditional plug-into-my-television consoles. I think it’s important. So we’re committed.”
As you see, Phil did go through some of the arguments we also made. But it’s also notable that Phil talks about taking some ‘lessons’ from their experience with Larian. Microsoft has sent some of their own employees to help Larian finish the work for their Xbox ports of Baldur’s Gate 3. Microsoft will likely improve their third party support system, maybe even delegate a number of employees, to work with smaller game companies (in terms of headcount and resources, not income) for the job of porting games to Xbox.
At the end of the day, if you’re an Xbox Series S owner, this statement should give you relief. Phil Spencer stands by all their Xbox gamers, and this is a commitment to continue that way into the future.
