Featured Image Credit: Mika Baumeister via Unsplash, Larian Studios
Topics: Xbox, Xbox Series S
For quite some time now, developers have raised concerns over the technical limitations of the Xbox Series S - and the latest Baldur’s Gate 3 debacle has reignited that argument.
Baldur’s Gate 3, the huge new RPG from Larian Studios, is out now on PC with the PlayStation 5 version set to follow on 6 September. It’s also supposed to eventually arrive on Xbox, but this version has been delayed due to ‘technical limitations’ surrounding the Xbox Series S. “We’ve said many times in the past that the issue is getting split-screen working on the Series S, which is taking more time, but is in progress,” Michael Douse, Larian Studios’ director of publishing said. “This is a huge technical hurdle, but we are unable to release the game on the ecosystem without this feature.”
Take a look at Baldur’s Gate 3 in action below.
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He continued, “Far from being exclusive, we have no exclusivity deal that prevents us from launching on Xbox. The issue is a technical hurdle. We cannot remove the split-screen feature because we are obliged to launch with feature parity, and so continue to try and make it work. We have quite a few engineers working very hard to do what no other RPG of this scale has achieved: seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op on Series S. We hope to have an update by the end of the year.”
Now, as reported by DualShockers, Remedy communications director Thomas Puha has backed Douse’s remarks. He tweeted, “I feel Larian's pain on Series S. It's not about ‘just optimise at the end’ LOL. Naaah. You have to take into account the technical limitations from the beginning of development. Nobody really wants to think of that when you start making your game, when everything is possible.”
The Series S is clearly a great option from the point of view of the consumer. It’s one of the cheapest consoles on sale out there but as proven here, it’s really pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a next-gen console - and not in a good way.