Xbox Series S consoles gain a feature that's been years in the making

A very special Xbox Series S update is about to add a feature folks have been begging for since December 2023.

As detailed on the official Baldur’s Gate 3 website, the Xbox Series S version of the game is finally getting an update that will add something to the game that’s been missing since it first released: split-screen co-op.

“Wanting to play multiplayer a little closer to home?” reads the press release on the Baldur’s Gate 3 site, “Patch 8 will also bring split-screen to Xbox Series S consoles! If you’re joining the stress test from an Xbox, you’ll be able to try this out early.”

Now, in case you’re an Xbox Series X owner and you’re a little bit confused as to why Larian is adding a feature you could have sworn was already in the game, then consider yourself lucky.

Baldur's Gate 3 is such a gem.

Most likely due to issues optimising the game, due to the Xbox Series S’ underpowered hardware (when compared to the Xbox Series X at least), split screen co-op was actually missing from the base release of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Hardware specs aren’t exactly my forte, but I’d guess this had something to do with the Xbox Series S’ memory.

When compared against the Xbox Series X (10 GB/320-bit & 6 GB/192-bit, 16 GB total), the Series S only has 10 GB of combined memory.

This usually isn’t a problem… until you add something as taxing as split-screen into the equation.

For the time being, the latest (and final) patch for Baldur’s Gate 3 is in its “stress test” phase, so (if you didn’t sign up to be part of the trial) you’ll have to wait a little while longer to give the new patch a go.

Here’s hoping it drops soon though. I wanna try out those new subclasses.