Xbox boss Phil Spencer has reiterated that the company doesn’t have any plans to allow the release of Series X exclusive games.
It’s currently a mandatory requirement for developers to ensure that their games are compatible with both Series X and Series S to release them forMicrosoft’s consoles.
But some developers have argued that having to cater to Microsoft’s entry-level consolelimits the potential of current-gen games.
In December 2023,Baldur’s Gate 3received a delayed release onXbox Series X/Safter Microsoft allowedLarian Studiostolaunch the S version without split-screen co-op, a mode it had been struggling to get working sufficiently on the lower-powered console.
And this month,Black Myth: WukongdeveloperGame Science blamed the Series S consolefor the game’s no-show onXboxplatforms.
However, in a new interview withDestin Legarie, Microsoft’s gaming boss claimed that having to develop games for Series S could be advantageous for studios targeting a variety of platforms, including handheld gaming systems.
Asked about the potential of dropping or relaxing Xbox Series S requirements, Spencer said: “In a way I think about it in almost exactly the opposite way right now. With the rise of handheldPCs and even the introduction so far of theSwitch 2, as developers we’re building on more device specs, from lower powered—because they’re battery powered devices—all the way through things that plug into the wall. I actually think we have a real advantage because we’ve been targeting S for quite a while, that our games have been built and they’re portable across many different specs.
“So when we look at something like aSteamDeck or ROG Ally or something, we’ve got this S version of the games, that are more tailored to the device specs of a lot of devices that frankly are getting introduced right now, and I think that helps us.”
Spencer confirmed in November thatXbox was working on handheld gaming prototypesof its own, but claimed that the launch of any potential device was still years away.
He added in the newly published interview: “And frankly the scalability of engines today allows them to scale from ray tracing enabled, multi-thousand dollar graphics card on desktop PCs all the way through to a handheld battery powered device, so for me S has been helpful in our portfolio.
“I’m playing Indiana Jones on S and it looks great, so like it’s definitely capable of playing current generation games in a great way, but most of your games that are going to be out there are going to be supporting these different devices, and the S spec of what it is actually maps pretty well to the devices that we’re seeing introduced right now. So I think it actually is an important design point for teams going forward, that kind of power performance mix that you see in the Series S.”
In the same interview, Spencer reiterated that there are no red linesstopping any Xbox game from appearing on other platforms.
