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Ex-Tekken boss says developing for Xbox Series S is doing “extra work for a slightly weaker child”
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
Katsuhiro Harada, the longtime Tekken developer, criticised the Xbox Series S at an industry event in Seoul, saying he wished hardware with its constraints had not been released. His comments highlight the extra optimisation work studios face when supporting a console that shares the Series X’s identity but has lower performance.
Harada said the Series S’s limited memory and weaker hardware make development difficult, while developers cannot neglect it because it has many users, particularly in the US. He said players sometimes complain to developers about reduced texture resolution, even though the difference reflects hardware limits. CD Projekt Red’s Pawel Sasko offered a contrasting view, saying the console pushes studios to optimise code more thoroughly.
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In short
- Harada says Series S adds difficult optimisation work.
- Its large user base means studios cannot ignore it.
- Hardware limits can lead to lower texture resolution.
How this story developed
- 4 minutes ago Katsuhiro Harada, the longtime Tekken developer, criticised the Xbox Series S at an industry event in Seoul, saying he wished hardware with its constraints had not been released.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Developers can reasonably argue that the Series S’s lower memory and performance require extra optimisation and can constrain what they build for more powerful platforms. Supporting it despite those demands may mean additional costs and compromises, while players’ complaints about visual differences reflect expectations studios cannot always meet on that hardware.
The case against
The Series S has a substantial user base, so supporting it helps studios reach more players and gives those customers access to current games at a lower performance tier. Its constraints can also encourage careful optimisation, as Sasko argues, potentially improving efficiency and making games run well across a wider range of hardware.