The developer of the upcoming survival horror sequel Alan Wake II has confirmed that getting the game to run properly on the inferior hardware of the Xbox Series S was an “issue.”
In an interview with IGN, Communications Director for Remedy Entertainment Thomas Puha was asked if the cheaper console is a net positive. In response, he was keen to give credit to the console’s CPU, saying it was nearly as powerful as its Series X counterpart. Despite that, the GPU and memory available caused significant issues in getting the game to run at a consistent 30fps.
Puha confirmed that “the GPU is an issue, it really is. Then having less memory is also a pretty big problem… if the Xbox Series S is 250 bucks and the Series X or PS5 are $500, then obviously there is a massive difference in the power you are getting.”
Alan Wake isn’t the only game to struggle with the Series S specs
The release of Forza Motorsport also highlighted areas where the Series S may struggle to keep up. Though it hits a fairly consistent 60FPS on performance mode, users of the console were disappointed at the graphical fidelity.
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One player commented on the effect the lower quality visuals has on the game’s customization system, saying: “The resolution of the decals on series S is appallingly bad. C’mon, this game is cross-platform, and if you’re a “painter”, at least let us see how the designs will look on an X or PC gamer’s machine, so that we can paint our liveries and be confident they’ll get downloads.”
As games continue to advance their visuals all the time, the Series S could continue to struggle. If this does happen, users of the console will feel aggrieved at the diminished performance of the newest releases.