Xbox users unimpressed as new free game struggles to perform on Series S

Whilst Marvel and Disney might currently be crushing it at the box office, their latest video game isn't doing too hot performance-wise - especially on the Xbox Series S.

Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play Overwatch-style shooter developed by NetEase Games, started its closed beta test on the 23rd of July last month. Response to the closed beta has ranged from relatively positive to aggressively bad, but there's one facet of the experience that everyone can currently agree on; performance isn't up to scratch.

As detailed in the report from the always amazing Digital Foundry on Eurogamer, Marvel Rivals is struggling on all platforms. Frame rate drops, stuttering, and texture-related issues are hitting everyone, unless of course you're a PC player with a ridiculously powerful, high-end rig.

Unfortunately for Xbox Series S players however, the less powerful Microsoft console is taking the brunt of the issues. Digital Foundry's Thomas Morgan stated that "there's a clear cascade in quality, leaving Series S very much behind in the best visual features Marvel Rivals has to offer".

Due to Marvel Rivals attempting to hit a solid 60 FPS lock on all platforms, the less powerful Series S is having to cut back on a multitude of other features to keep the frame rate consistent.

As Thomas noted, this means that the game on Series S "completely lacks character shadows, Lumen GI is stripped out in favour of simpler screen-space shading, and screen-space reflections are removed as well in favour of less complex cubemaps".

The worst thing to come out of the report is that, in order to hit the 60 FPS lock, Marvel Rivals is running into more texture issues and graphical issues on Xbox Series S than any other platform - with dips in quality all the way down to 540p.

Now, let's get one thing clear - this is a closed beta. Some issues will most certainly be fixed by the time the game is properly released. However, NetEase clearly have a long road ahead of them in terms of optimising the game for the Series S. Perhaps a delay is in Marvel Rivals future, at least on Series S.