It’s been a while since we’ve heard game developers openly complaining about the Xbox Series S’s weak performance. It was a major topic of discussion before the console’s launch in November 2020, but it gradually faded as more studios got used to dealing with it (despite some big, fairly recent cases, like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Black Myth: Wukong).
Still, Microsoft’s decision to try and break through the mainstream market with a cheaper console clearly annoys some developers to this day. One of them is Katsuhiro Harada, known for his decades-long work on the Tekken franchise before his recent departure from Bandai Namco and subsequent roleas CEO of VS Studio.
Speaking at a panel held this Monday at the Console Game Developers Conference 2026 in Seoul, South Korea, Harada said he’d like Microsoft to never make another Xbox Series S, going in depth into its issues and even dragging Cyberpunk 2077 Associate Game Director Paweł Sasko from CD Projekt RED into admitting how hard it is to make games for the weaker hardware. Here are the quotes, transcribed by Inven Global:
Harada:Since a senior Xbox official is actually in attendance here today, I wish hardware like the ‘Xbox Series S’ wouldn’t be released (laughs). I want to ask Director Paweł personally—honestly, weren’t you upset inside because of Series S?
Sasko: (bursts out laughing): It constantly throws challenges at us and forces us to optimize our code very cleanly.
Harada: You just used a very polite and elegant way to say “Xbox Series S sucks,”right? (laughs) Low memory is an issue, but the hardest part is that it’s a device so similar to Series X while having awkwardly lower performance. When porting to Switch 2, developers can shift their mindset to “Switch 2 is a distinct device for Nintendo fans!” But with Xbox, after delivering your absolute best output, it feels like having to do extra work for a slightly weaker child.Furthermore, in markets like the US, there are more Series S users than Series X users, so we can’t just cut corners. Yet after launch, Series S users direct their complaints at us developers rather than Microsoft, asking “Why is texture resolution lower only on Series S?”
Sasko: Harada speaks a lot of truth. Players don’t fully understand the technical context behind why fewer characters appear on screen or why visuals are downgraded. However, intensely optimizing for lower-spec platforms definitely brings the benefit of making the game run significantly better across all platforms—including PS5, high-end PCs, and handhelds like Steam Deck and ROG Ally. Recently, with Cyberpunk 2077 Version 2.5, we applied optimization breakthroughs gained while preparing the Switch 2 launch title (which involved a team of 80 to 100 people for over a year) back to all other platforms with great effect.
And the biggest advantage of Series S is that its affordable price makes it accessible. Not every gamer can buy expensive high-end hardware, so from a developer’s perspective, even if the strict constraints are painful, there is a silver lining in expanding market penetration to deliver the game to more players.
Harada:Director Sasko packaged Series S so gracefully that the Microsoft representative in the audience keeps nodding along. I’m worried they’ll feel reassured and release a successor like ‘Helix S’ for the next-gen Xbox as well (laughs).
To be fair, Sasko was not the first to point out that exercising with the Xbox Series S actually led to optimization improvements for all platforms: DICE said the same about Battlefield 6. Besides, most developers would agree with him that the experience with the Series S helped them with other low-end platforms that launched after the Xbox console, such as the PC handhelds and the Nintendo Switch 2.
On the other hand, Microsoft hoped that a more accessible console would boost its sales this generation. That has proven to be utterly false, so we’ll have to see whether they still plan two SKUs for the upcoming Project Helix.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief.
In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech’s gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews.
Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications.
His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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